Volunteer by Casey O’Leary If I help out at the nursing home, I see G.G. once a week, so I deliver laundry, hanging cheap cotton button downs in identical closets. Raspy barks overpower my shy whispers in conversation; thankfully old people sleep a lot. I nudge doors open with my breath stuck in my throat, quickly stuff faded white t-shirts into plastic drawers with trembling fingers. I bear witness to the slow slide of aging, drool inching along wrinkled skin, labored breaths marking the minutes. The laundry is light. My heart does the heavy lifting. From Casey O'Leary: "I am a poet and playwright living in Indianapolis. My play All Is Forgiven was produced as part of the 2017 Short Play Festival at IndyFringe, and I blog at afterthecloset.com. I work as a children's librarian in Mooresville, Ind."
Flying Island is the Online Literary Journal of the Indiana Writers Center, accepting submissions from Midwest residents and those with significant ties to the Midwest.