"Never Underestimate an Old Man" by Carlton Clayton

 – frozen with fear; not cool

The foolishness of youth can be a dangerous game to play.

Carlton Clayton lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he is a volunteer with the North Carolina Writer’s Network Prison Outreach Program and a member of the Charlotte Writer’s Club. He got his real start in writing at Charlotte Center for Literary Arts where he wrote the story that appears in this issue. He is at work on a memoir about growing up along the Neuse River aptly titled "Along the Banks of the Neuse." Carlton also has work in Pembroke Magazine and the New York Quarterly. About his story in this issue, Carlton says, “I was just a badass kid. I’m much better now.”