White desk with pink notebook, roses, keyboard, and gold paperclips that Francesca Varela uses to write environmental fiction

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  • The Figure Skater – A Short Story

    4–6 minutes

    Dina stood near the ice with her shoulders hunched over, noting the skater’s lithe jumps and pretty contortions. The rink felt colder than usual on her bare arms. She stumbled back into the lobby. Ignoring the spicy smell of pretzels and churros, she sat on a wooden bench near the entrance. A line of bodies blocked

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  • Would You Like To Buy The Sunset?

    7–10 minutes

    A man sits on the muddy sand along the river, watching a band of turkey vultures dip through the sky. He takes the hand of his companion, a young woman whose face is ruddy from walking against the wind. They bow their heads toward the water and listen to it sing. The whole day they

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  • The Barred Owl Dilemma

    6–9 minutes

    When the winds come, and the branches swing, the owl moves with them. He blinks, puffing out his spotted wings. All the forest sings. There is the throaty chant of his mate. Coo-coo-coo-coo-roo, dropping in pitch at the end. Across the creek, two owlets sit atop tree-ferns dying brown for the summer. High in the

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  • White-Tailed Tropicbird

    2–3 minutes

    I love Oregon, but I know I’m meant to live in Hawaii, or another tropical place. I’ve known this since the moment I first swam in the ocean in Waikiki as a fourteen year-old; when I first floated on my back and felt the colors of the sky drain into me. I’m going to live here someday, I

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Learn more about Francesca Varela's novels