THE SMOKE SIGNAL

THE SMOKE SIGNAL

THE SMOKE SIGNAL

In partnership with the Hart Smoke Signal Staff, the Hart Renaissance Man Club, and and the Equity and Diversity Collaborative
Artwork by Marie Maaluf.
Prose (Fiction)
SNAFU
Grace Dionne April 12, 2024

I am flying a ship through the ink, though, and I am a fighter pilot. That’s gotta count for something, ‘cause otherwise, my life’s a joke.” As...

Artwork by Alex Bell.
Prose (Fiction)
Zaria's Story
Tate Holley April 12, 2024

Her arms were wrapped, like a boxer, and she had a canvas bag slung around one shoulder, which she held tucked under her arm.  “What’s...

O Star Child, Are You Listening?
Prose (Fiction)
O Star Child, Are You Listening?
Emma Tijerino April 12, 2024

As I laid on the stone on my bed, I kept thinking. And I would keep thinking about him for a while. The look on his face, the otherworldly green...

Prose (Fiction)
Outer Limits
Tristan Purfoy March 17, 2023

It’s the year 5,000. Society’s broken in the eyes of the beholder. Thirty five billion people living in a caged society are left to rot with...

Image from commons.wikimedia.org
Prose (Fiction)
The Fisherman Story
Isa Magee March 17, 2023

Once upon a time, there was a patient fisherman. He would wait at the harbor for hours and hours everyday trying to find a big fish for the biggest...

Prose (Fiction)
Time is a Construct
Hannah Wobrock March 21, 2022

Falling. She wakes to a low rushing sound, tendrils of fine orange sand waving in her face as if to say hello. She stands up, brushing the...

Picture from commons.wikimedia.org
Prose (Fiction)
The Mojave Man
Ethan Everts March 21, 2022

Back in the 60’s, there was a wave of experimentation done to humanity by the United States federal government for the achievement of a better...

Prose (Fiction)
 A Peculiar Initiation
Ava Smith March 21, 2022

I slowly opened the door, and had to cover my hand to keep my gasp from being audible. A group of people stood in red and black cloaks, surrounded...

Prose (Fiction)
Heart Wrecked
Caterina Monjoy March 21, 2022

No. This is not happening. I am not on this island right now. He did not break my heart into a million pieces. I am not stuck. I breathed trying...

Prose (Fiction)
You Look Quite Divine Tonight
Talia Einaudi March 21, 2022

Madame Apolline La Lune remembered the letter from Conrad MacDowell urging her to come to the Iberian Peninsula and help him with his newest...

Prose (Fiction)
Career Day
Anonymous March 21, 2022

“It was unlike anything you could ever imagine,” I said with almost enough enthusiasm to convince these kids. I sat in front of the group...

Prose (Fiction)
Shipwrecked Home
Michaela Okuyama March 21, 2022

I sit with a cigarette hanging loosely from the tips of my fingers, daring to catch into the wind and sink down in the blue sea from the ship...

Artwork by Valeria Xicotencalt.
Poetry
Inside the Head of a Student Athlete
Lea Flores April 19, 2024

Confused. Overwhelmed. Stressed. Hurt. Numb. Exhaustion.  Feelings you didn’t expect you’d ever feel. The daily aspect of putting...

Artwork by Jasper Arriaga.
Poetry
Burning Passion
Serena Erickson April 19, 2024

Two hearts, beating as one To the rhythm of the sounds that fill the room Musical passion connects their spirit, it’s almost cliche But...

Artwork by Elyssa Ynalvez.
Poetry
A Perfect Love
Rawan Tamim April 19, 2024

In the stillness of the night, I feel your presence by my side, A gentle whisper in the wind, A love that never ends. Through the...

Artwork by Esmeralda Lopez.
Poetry
If I'm Being Honest
Sofia Ganshirt April 19, 2024

I was born on March 7 I hear that makes me a pisces I have no idea what that actually means   I don't know how to cook And I’m...

Artwork by Heather de Cosier.
Poetry
About Me
Rey Noori April 19, 2024

I was born in Iran The same year my Grandmother died I can’t seem to come to terms with the grief I feel over someone I never knew I’m...

Image from Creative Commons
Poetry
The Girl On Fire
Bella Solomon March 17, 2023

Katniss Everdeen Reserved and ordinary Thinking of her sister Becomes a tribute and a priority   She enters the arena with...

Poetry
The Knight Without Armour 
Flinch Vallin March 17, 2023

I wish to be the chivalrous man of legends A knight in shining armor Or to be a handsome rough faced rouge would come in second One...

Image from commons.wikimedia.org
Poetry
Pencil, Paper, Experiment, Rinse, Repeat
Avery Burgess March 17, 2023

Pencil, paper, experiment, rinse, repeat… Pencil, Paper, Experiment, Rinse, Repeat!  PENCIL, PAPER, EXPERIMENT, RINSE, REPEAT!!!  That’s...

Poetry
 I ate Remy 
Hector Dominguez March 17, 2023

Truth be told– “Anyone can cook, but only the fearless can be great” Remy, you yaknow Ratatouille yeah he really ate What made that...

Image from Creative Commons
Poetry
Midnight Call
Anonymous March 17, 2023

Midnight calls Lying on my belly Kicking my feet in the air A smile itching at my teeth   Oh, how no one compares   On...

Image from commons.wikimedia.org
Poetry
Love is
Hannah Wobrock March 17, 2023

Love is chocolate cake, green walls, full bookshelves, a new dress;   Love is my brother’s smile, my sister’s...

Poetry
Communion of the Damned
Flinch Vallin March 17, 2023

Haunted words flow fourth Passing by rotten teeth “Oh how the mighty fall” just below salvation  Life is a delicate gift  But...

Poetry
Kaleidoscope
Serena Erickson March 21, 2022

Whose Kaleidoscope is that? I think I know, It's owner is quite happy though. Full of joy like a vivid rainbow. I watch her laugh. I...

Poetry
New Years Resolution
Mary Ellie Magsaysay March 21, 2022

For the new year, I am the same. The same as I am different. My eyes are still the same and probably my height, maybe my hair will grow and my...

Picture from pixabay.com
Poetry
A Billion Beautiful Faces
Katelyn Miller March 21, 2022

  All my life, I have been surrounded by a billion beautiful faces    Each one delightfully different from the last   They...

Drama
Round 1
Alex Reyes April 12, 2024

Rony Well I get cranky in the mornings, sometimes *cough*    Eric Yeah, so what's on the agenda   Rony The usual...

Image from picryl.com
Drama
Abuelito
Lucas Gomez March 17, 2023

INT. DINER IN LOS ANGELES - NOON   There are a few guests in the booths and chairs of a diner being cooled by a small ceiling fan....

Drama
TWIZZLER
Samuel Menell March 21, 2022

OPEN on a car pulling up to a gas station. The car creeps into an open spot, halting. The car sits silently. Luke (O.S.) ... Two dollars...

Drama
Not a Coward
Lacey Lennington March 21, 2022

Intended Message Trust and Honesty Intended Audience Anyone Characters Simsek Patterson: Goes by Sim. A shy yet newly confident 14 year...

Drama
Where Your Loyalty Lies
Mary Ellie Magsaysay March 21, 2022

Characters King Luther, a father figure role model with complex beliefs.    Prince Adam, a representation of good and justice.    Soldier,...

Artwork by Russel Robes.
Art and Photography
A Sweet Treat
Russel Robes April 19, 2024

This is my sister (right) and my friend (left) enjoying some ice cream!

Buddha
Art and Photography
Buddha
Adrian Vargas April 19, 2024

This is a cinematic picture. While it looks simple, there is true beauty behind it.

Artwork by Val Garciga.
Art and Photography
Thee Joseph Christian Leyendecker
Val Garciga April 19, 2024

My work is a portrait of the artist Joseph Christian Leyendecker, also know as J.C. Leyendecker. This piece is accompanied by some of Leyendecker’s...

Abstract
Art and Photography
Abstract
Achlys Cisneros April 19, 2024

This is an abstract version of a balloon dog.

Artwork by Mariely Martinez.
Prose (Nonfiction)
Why a Dreamer Would Write
Chloe Benites April 19, 2024

Why on earth would a dreamer write? Is the library in their head too full of ideas? Does their brain have too many thoughts to keep up? Too many...

Why Should a Soccer Player Write?
Prose (Nonfiction)
Why Should a Soccer Player Write?
Gianna Costello April 19, 2024

Someone asked me why a soccer player should write? Why, when most of her creativity emerges with a ball at her feet than with a pencil in her...

Artwork by Maxine Cabanan.
Prose (Nonfiction)
A Sport that Allows Grown Men to Beat Each Other Up
Alyssa Davis April 19, 2024

Ice hockey is an iconic international sport that is loved by many, specifically across North America. The biggest league in ice hockey is the...

Image from harthighschool.org
Prose (Nonfiction)
Hart High School: A Friday Night Lights Imitation
My submission is an imitation of the opening passage of Friday Night Lights by H. G. Bissinger, written for Hart.
Jenna Ju March 17, 2023

You walk into Hart for the first time and become overwhelmed by the atmosphere that is so hectic, so bustling that something rises in your chest,...

Prose (Nonfiction)
The Physical Description of Los Angeles
This is an imitation of an excerpt from "Friday Night Lights" by H.G. Bissinger.
Anna Philipous March 17, 2023

You drive into the heart of Los Angeles on Friday for the first time and become overwhelmed by the instant culture shift that something inside...

Image from Creative Commons
Prose (Nonfiction)
The Cards
Hector Dominguez March 17, 2023

It was a normal Sunday night in one of Santa Clarita’s oldest and finest remaining locally owned pizza parlors. There was nothing odd about...

Prose (Nonfiction)
Definitely Anonymous Formal Complaint to Mr. Borish regarding Honors Precalculus “test limits mc”
A note from the author: "This work is a formal complaint to Mr. Borish. Despite this test being last semester and having no relevance to anything right now, my friends want me to do this and I agreed this would be something pretty funny to submit. Something to note is that Borish loved the essay, didn’t change my grade though. It was also supposed to be anonymous."
Bryce Iwai March 17, 2023

The day of the limits test was upon theMr. And the author thought he was ready, but in reality, he failed. Miserably, may I add. The twenty-question...

Prose (Nonfiction)
A General History of La Purísima y La Gritería
This prose nonfiction is an informative short essay that provides the reader with a very general background knowledge of how an exclusively Nicaraguan tradition came to be celebrated and enhanced by multiple communities in Louisiana.
Miranda Solis March 21, 2022

Under the autocratic dictatorship of the Somoza family, the semi-feudalist economy of Nicaragua accumulated wealth through foreign aid siphoning,...

Prose (Nonfiction)
How Sexism Presents Itself In The Show, "Gilligan’s Island"
This prose nonfiction is an explanatory essay about the sexism portrayed in a 60's sitcom
Kaia Cavin March 21, 2022

The Oxford Dictionary defines sexism as, “prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, based on sex.”(Oxford English...

Prose (Nonfiction)
An imitation of "Friday Night Lights" by H.G. Bissinger based on a physical description of the Nurburgring, Germany.
Paul Travis March 21, 2022

As you first pull into the Nurburgring for the first time you become immersed by the state of the road course, as if butterflies are flying around...

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