November Issue
- The Scuttle Team
- 5 days ago
- 23 min read
Editor's Note
The seasons are changing, and so is Cabrillo. As students finish up midterms and persevere through the fall semester, the college continues to make strong strides in achievement and success.
Good news regarding Title V funding, Cabrillo has been granted a year-long extension and will be supported by the Department of Education through 2026. In addition, Presidential candidate interviews are in full motion, with the search committee narrowing the selection down to the final four contenders. Read about retiring President Matt Wetstien's legacy with an exclusive interview by Isabella Blevins and find information on the Presidential Community Forum Event in this month's issue.
It seems that students, faculty, and staff alike are working especially hard this fall, and their efforts are not going unnoticed. Indulge in student works of fiction and poetry this issue with special submissions from Trinity Szoke and Rocco A.
Likewise, the Student Senate continues its endeavoring work and has much to show for it. Under our ASCC Monthly Report, you may read about their successes with increasing immigration support at our Watsonville Campus; the Academic Affairs Council survey examining the intersection of financial aid, mental health, and student well-being; and the announcement of Cabrillo as a Voting Site for the 2025 Statewide elections. Check out Josephine Fahey's article, diving into the subject of youth civil engagement and its importance.
Celebration is everywhere, from holiday cheer to institutional achievement; this past month has been prosperous for Cabrillo, and let us continue evermore.
–Josephine Fahey
Upcoming Events
Your College. Your Voice.
Change is happening all around at Cabrillo, and they want students' opinions! Cabrillo Administration will host listening sessions to provide an opportunity for you to make a positive change in your community. Share your experience as a student and provide feedback that will help student equity and success. Join fellow students on Nov. 4th from 3-5pm in Room 609 (Aptos Campus), or on Nov. 11th on Zoom (bit.ly/students2030)
Additionally, there will be a listening session for community members on November 7th from 5-7pm at the Horticulture Building (Aptos Campus). To attend virtually on November 6th from 9-11am, use this link: bit.ly/comm2030.
Building Alliances in Indigenous Education: A Convening for Indigenous Leaders and Public Educators
“Are you an Indigenous leader or a public educator committed to fostering meaningful partnerships and enriching Indigenous education? Join us for a free transformative one-day workshop designed to cultivate understanding, share best practices, and forge lasting alliances. Building Alliances in Indigenous Education offers a unique opportunity for dialogue and collaboration, empowering participants to enhance educational opportunities for local students and integrate Indigenous perspectives more effectively into public education.” The workshop will be held on November 15th from 9am-4pm at Samper Recital Hall. Register here. Space is limited!
American Red Cross Blood Drive
On Tuesday, November 18th, from 9am-2pm, Student Health Services will host an American Red Cross Blood Drive in the Aptos Cafeteria. All eligible students, employees, and community members are encouraged to donate and help save lives! Register here.
Puente Club PIQ Workshops
The Puente Club is hosting its second annual PIQ transfer workshops every Wednesday from 12:00-1:30pm in the HUB in room 1063. These workshops run until the 19th of November and offer hands-on guidance from experienced counselors. Food will also be provided!
How to Get Hired Workshop (open to all Cabrillo students and staff)
Ever wonder what goes on after you submit a job application? Come learn from our very own Hilda Montanez about the behind-the-scenes process for reviewing applications and selecting final candidates for employment at larger organizations like Cabrillo. This presentation is open to staff and students. A zoom link will be provided to those who request virtual access. This is a hyflex event and in-person participation is encouraged. Come to Room 312 on November 5th from 12-1pm. The workshop is organized by the Employment and Internship Office and Department of Work Experience Education. Register here.
American Agitators Screening
On November 5th from 4:30-6pm at Samper Recital Hall, there will be a screening of Raymond Telles’ 2025 film American Agitators about the long history of community organizing in our area. The film features activist Fred Ross, who worked with Dolores Huerta. This film is also available through the Cabrillo College Library.
Movie Day at Multicultural Center
The Student Multicultural Center will host two back-to-back movie screenings on November 4th. Coco (2017) will be shown at 10am and The Book of Life (2014) will be screened at 12:30pm. All students are welcome!
Día de los Muertos
Cabrillo College’s student senators will host a Día de los Muertos celebration in the lobby area of the Watsonville Center on November 3rd from 1-2:30pm. Attend to enjoy sugar skull decorating, pan de muerto, and Mexican hot chocolate!
Cabrillo Theater Arts Presents Metamorphoses
Beginning November 1st, Cabrillo Theater Arts will begin staging their fall production of American playwright, Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses. The play is adapted from Ovid' s classic poem of the same name. More information and tickets can be found here.
Building Alliances in Indigenous Education: A
Convening for Indigenous Leaders and Public Educators
“Are you an Indigenous leader or a public educator committed to fostering meaningful partnerships and enriching Indigenous education? Join us for a free transformative one-day workshop designed to cultivate understanding, share best practices, and forge lasting alliances. Building Alliances in Indigenous Education offers a unique opportunity for dialogue and collaboration, empowering participants to enhance educational opportunities for local students and integrate Indigenous perspectives more effectively into public education.” The workshop will be held on November 15th from 9am-4pm at Samper Recital Hall. Register here. Space is limited!
12x12(x12): An Open Invitational
“Cabrillo Gallery’s annual 12 x 12(x12): Open Invitational celebrates our diverse creative community of artists. For this very popular exhibition, we open our doors and our wall space to all California artists, at any point in their career, offering a truly inclusive arena for creative individuals to express their unique vision, each through their chosen artistic discipline and media.” The exhibition will be on view from November 4th-December 5th. The reception will be held on November 15th from 3-5pm. More information can be found here.
Student Response Survey for AB1075
On November 3rd, the Board of Trustees will discuss the future of Math 4 at Cabrillo in relation to new legislation AB1705. The Student Senate and Scuttle want feedback as your representatives. Please take the survey to highlight the importance of Pre-Calculus and its contribution to STEM student success and equity.
The end of an era: The outgoing President of Cabrillo College reflects on his term while the college prepares for the future
The search for the next President of Cabrillo College is well underway as the current president, Matthew Wetstein, will retire at the end of this semester in December. I met with him at the beginning of October to get a sense of what his eight years at Cabrillo were like and the legacy he leaves behind.
Wetstein was hired at Cabrillo in 2017. He previously worked as the Vice President of Instruction at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton for 22 years. He said he started as a political science faculty and “climbed the ranks of administration” over the following two decades. Interested in becoming a college president, he participated in a statewide research and planning group that studies student success and joined a training program with the Aspen Institute.
When he started at Cabrillo, his main goal was to improve equitable completion rates for students and boost enrollment..
“At the time in California, Hispanic student graduation rates were lagging behind White and Asian [students]. So that was one of the big goals was to try to lift up those rates of completion,” he said.
Wetstein said that within about three years, Hispanic student graduation rates were higher than those of white students. During the 2019-2020 academic year, 50% of the college’s graduates were Hispanic, while they only accounted for 48% of the total student population.
“That was one of the proud moments, I think. And ever since then, the equity gap for Hispanic students has disappeared in terms of graduation for Associate’s degrees,” he said.
In 2021 the planning for Cabrillo's student housing project began. Wetstein was a part of advocacy efforts to have funding put into the state budget for the project. The first application for funding was approved in 2023. The construction of the housing began at the end of last September. Wetstein said the housing project will be the “most historic and memorable” accomplishment from his time as president.
Other successes for Wetstein are Cabrillo’s status as being the college with the most transfers to UC Santa Cruz and being in the top three for transfers to San Jose State University and CSU Monterey Bay.
He praised the college for emphasizing diversity, equity, and inclusion “as values that are important to the institution and to the board,” and recognized the newly established Multicultural Student Center as evidence of the college’s commitment to DEI.
Wetstein acknowledged the difficulties that arose during his term, as well, citing the Covid-19 pandemic and the CZU fires as being the biggest challenges he and the college faced.
“We had board members, staff, students who lost their homes to the fire. I distinctly remember one of our faculty was parked in an RV with her husband in our parking lot because we opened our parking lot to be an emergency shelter,” Wetstein said.
Despite the difficulty, he said it was “another case where faculty and staff really opened up their hearts.”
He recalled how one of the facilities crews set up a popcorn machine and a projector and held a popcorn and movie night for the people who had evacuated to the college.
Wetstein said the past year has been tough to navigate, due to funding cuts and policy changes at the federal level.
“One of my hopes,” Wetstein said, “is that people will reflect on the period that I was here and think about the leadership team as being very good at helping to steer the college through the crisis of the pandemic and natural disasters and things like that.”
As Wetstein prepares for retirement, Cabrillo is inching closer to selecting his successor. Four finalists for the position were recently announced: Dr. Jenn Capps, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Cal Poly Humboldt; Cabrillo College’s Assistant Superintendent/Vice President of Instruction Dr. Travaris Harris; Dr. Maria Villagómez, Assistant Superintendent/Vice President of Academic Affairs and Accreditation Liaison Officer at Santa Barbara City College; and Dr. Tia Robinson-Cooper, former Chancellor at Ivy Tech Community College.
Community-wide forums with all four candidates will be held at Samper Recital Hall on November 12 from 2pm-5:45pm. The forums can also be attended via Zoom. The college is accepting questions for the candidates from community members. More information can be found on the Superintendent/President Search page. After the forums, a survey will be available until November 13 at 10am for community members to give feedback on the candidates.
The Cabrillo College Board of Trustees will select and approve the next president in December. The new president will begin in January 2026.
“This has been a broad, national search, and we are pleased with the significant and highly qualified pool of applicants we received,” said Christina Cuevas, Cabrillo Governing Board Chair and Chair of the Superintendent/President Search Committee.
–Isabella Blevins
Cabrillo College is a Safe Space
Flyers from Blanca Baltazar-Sabbah, the Cabrillo College Vice President of Student Services, explain what to do if you are approached by Federal immigration or ICE officers while on campus. "Reports of increased federal immigration enforcement presence in the Bay Area have understandably increased concerns among educators and families. This is an important moment for us to reaffirm that our campuses remain safe, protected spaces for all students, and to highlight the resources available to support staff and our communities," Baltazar-Sabbah said.
Your Vote Matters: Youth Voting and Statewide Special Elections
The youth of voting America are notoriously passive when it comes to civic engagement. With the Statewide Special Elections right around the corner, let’s explore why youth participation is so low, why it's so important, and how you can exercise your civic duties this November.
After the 2024 Presidential Elections, the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement conducted a study in hopes of identifying the key reasons for the low rate of youth civic engagement. The main culprit for the low youth voter turnout of 47%, was identified as motivational barriers. The study reported that 28% of youth ages 18-29 who didn’t vote were too busy with conflicting school or work schedules, and another 24% said they felt like their vote didn't matter. These misconceptions are self-perpetuating.
For youth, structural disparities, such as transportation, scheduling, and even understanding elections, are barriers that seem impossible to overcome. Fortunately, Cabrillo Community College and California legislation seek to provide all the tools you need to get to a voting site.
Under California Elections Code, Section 14000, voters are permitted to take paid time off to vote for statewide elections if their schedules should otherwise restrict them. Voters are granted as many hours as they need and up to 2 hours of paid leave.
In addition, Cabrillo College is proud to be a Voting Center and Drop-Box location for the 2025 Statewide Special Elections. The site offers same-day registration and voting, and these resources are available in Room 913 at the Aptos Campus underneath the Cafeteria.
A huge misconception that youth carry with them to the voting sites is that they don't feel represented by the candidates they're voting for. When in reality, politicians pay close attention to the demographics they attract. Data analysts and campaign managers spend copious amounts of time reading political trends to target specific audiences. Elected and running officials spend more time tailoring to their crowds than one might assume. There is power in numbers, and if youth continue to produce low voting participation rates, officials will continue to overlook them.
Exercising your right to vote is the most impactful way to change your community. Generally, local elections have significantly lower turnout rates compared to primary or statewide elections, which makes your vote matter all the more. Participating in local elections allows you to advocate for laws that impact you directly and inspire growth within your neighborhood.
On a broader scale, Statewide Special Elections are an irregular type of election that are most commonly called to fill vacancies in elected official positions or to respond to urgent legislative matters. The 2025 statewide special election was called as a rigging response act against the Texas redistricting maps.
On August 20th, 2025, the Texas State House of Representatives passed a legislative congressional redistricting map, under the Trump administration's suggestions, to help gain Republican Representative seats in the United States House of Representatives.
Gavin Newsom responded with Prop 50, a constitutional amendment that will gain back the Democratic Representatives in the House using the same gerrymandering methods. Both parties aim to secure the majority in the House before the 2026 Midterm elections. Voting “Yes” for Prop 50 will advocate for the redrawing of congressional district maps, and voting “No” will advocate against it. Your vote carries a major significance in determining the power balance between the parties.
The upcoming Midterm elections determine the constituents of the United States Congress. In which, all 435 House members and about a third of Senate Members are allowed to run and will determine who will be part of the next United States Congress. Largely simplifying, whoever has the majority in the House controls the political agendas for the next 2 years.
Your vote during the 2025 Statewide Elections will have a compounding effect for the upcoming Midterm and Primary elections. Every vote is an opportunity to shape our political future. So be sure to turn in your ballot this November 4th.
-Josephine Fahey
Journal X English 1B course available for spring 2026
Interested in taking a non-traditional English class? Whether you're studying English or just need to satisfy a general education requirement, English 1B with Dr. William Mullaney is a great opportunity to take a class that is probably unlike others you've taken before.
This version of the course focuses on editing and producing Cabrillo College's literary and arts publication, Journal X, which is centered around social justice and the Watsonville community. Journal X–also called Xinachitli Journal–was founded in 2021 by Cabrillo English professor Victoria Bañales. She is also the 2025-2027 Watsonville Poet Laureate and a co-founder of Writers of Color Santa Cruz County.
In the class, students form and editorial board that selects the art and writing that gets published in the journal. Students also help organize Journal X's annual celebration of its published writers and artists. Additionally, students may submit to Journal X themselves at www.cabrillo.edu/journal-x.
The Journal X version of the course with Mullaney is perfect for students who are passionate about social justice issues or want to take a non-traditional English class.
To learn more about Journal X, visit www.cabrillo.edu/journal-x/, or email wimullan@cabrillo.edu
–Isabella Blevins
Stroke and Disability Learning Center Celebrates 50 Years of Operation and Community
Cabrillo College celebrated 50 years of its Stroke and Disability Learning Center at Samper Recital Hall on October 17 with speakers, music, and food.
College President Matt Wetstein provided the ceremony’s opening remarks before welcoming Congressman Jimmy Panetta to the stage.
“It’s no wonder why the SDLC has continued to grow for 50 years,” said Panetta, who lauded the center as being a “cornerstone” of both the Cabrillo College community and democracy. “It is so inspirational to see leadership from the bottom up like we have right here, ” he added.
Panetta awarded Cabrillo and the Stroke Center with a congressional certificate. A separate resolution was presented on behalf of Senator John Laird, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, and Assembly members Dawn Addis and Gail Pellerin.
“I can’t believe that in 1975 there was the foresight to basically ensure that victims of stroke or life-changing incidents that alter their lives basically had a program in which they could change from patient to student to community member,” Panetta said. For most of its existence, the center was located at De Laveaga Park. About 15 years ago, it was moved to Cabrillo’s Aptos campus thanks to a community bond measure.
Sally Weiss, Executive Director of the Stroke Center, said one of the pillars over the years has been the “vision and dedication of the staff.”
Former employees came onstage to share stories from when they worked there. Beth McKinnon, who was previously a director of the center discussed the contributions of Dana Gibson, a former Recreational Therapy Activities Coordinator.
“Dana’s influence is ubiquitous to the program as it exists today,” she said.
According to McKinnon, Gibson was hired at the center in 1976 and retired in 2007 at the age of 83. She said Gibson’s retirement was due to macular degeneration that had impaired her sight but speculated that Gibson would still work at the SDLC if she could. Gibson developed classes and programs for the students that are still in practice today.
“She was so much more than a teacher. She wanted her students to have fun and stretch beyond whatever limitations they lived with,” McKinnon said.
Gibson created the Adaptive Gardening class to help students regain dexterity. A version of the class is still offered under the name Horticultural Therapy. Mckinnon said Gibson also had golf clubs modified so they could be used by students who were in wheelchairs or who had limited mobility, so that they could participate in the Adaptive Golf class she organized at De Laveaga Golf Course. The class ran for about 15 years, Mckinnon said.
Currently, the Stroke Center offers the HEART program (Health, Education, Art, and Recreation Together) which introduces the arts and works in conjunction with the center’s core classes. Through this program, students are able to participate in choir, horticultural therapy, drawing, and ceramics.
“[Choir] allows those who can no longer speak effectively a way to use their voice with other people in communication,” said Penny Hanna, the center’s Choir and Joy of Music director.
Brandy Dickinson, the center’s Speech Communication Instructor said they are working on making Cabrillo College more aware of and accessible to the center’s students.
Recently, two groups of engineering students visited the Stroke Center students and are currently working on developing a portable piece of equipment that can attach to desks and tables to support those who have limited mobility in their upper extremities so that they can participate in tabletop activities. Those same engineering students are also making tabletop puzzles that will help students improve upper extremity dexterity. Dickinson said the students will return to the center at the end of the semester with the equipment they built.
“These experiences are going to permanently imprint on these amazing engineers about accessibility,” she said.
This semester’s Art Photography students are working with the Stroke Center students on a pop-up art gallery about aphasia and how to support people with the disorder. The gallery will be on view at the Stroke Center at the end of the semester.
“At the heart of everything is the students,” Weiss said. “A community college is a great place to challenge barriers and increase our ability to accommodate different needs.”
Merit Tucker, a former Communications Director at the Stroke Center, pointed how many other Santa Cruz County organizations have also recently celebrated 50th anniversaries, including the Kuumbwa Jazz Center, Grey Bears, Santa Cruz Community Health, and Second Harvest Food Bank. Like the Stroke Center, these organizations are centered around building and supporting communities.
–Isabella Blevins
ASCC Monthly Reports
In an effort to keep the student body informed and educated, the Associated Students of Cabrillo College (ASCC) and The Scuttle have initiated a collaboration that aims to strengthen the bond between students and the executive functions of Cabrillo College.
Associated Students of Cabrillo College meetings are held every Thursday from 3:30-5pm. The meetings are usually held at the Aptos campus in SAC East room 225. Meetings on the third Thursday of each month are held at the Watsonville Center in room A150. Student Senate meetings are open to all students, and attending is a great way to stay informed about important decisions and events that impact your life as a Cabrillo student. The Scuttle publishes information from each month's meetings that is the most relevant and important to students, but we also encourage students to attend senate meetings themselves.
The Student Senate currently has two open positions for Inter-Club Council Chair and Public Relations Director. Students who wish to nominate themselves for candidacy for either of these positions must do so at any ASCC meeting and fill out the Student Senate Application.
October 2nd 2025
President Viviana Moreno Reports:
She attended the College Planning Committee/ Budget Committee Meeting on the 24th of September. Announcements were made regarding A.I. embedded in K-12 learning. The United Federation of Teachers and American Federation of Teachers teamed with Microsoft to create a “National Academy for AI Instruction”. Read the article here. They also discussed the timeline for the Cabrillo Strategic Plan. The timeline has been shifted from Fall 2025 to Spring 2026-2030
Legislative Representative Angela Caparas Reports:
She attended the SSCCC Delegate Assembly Special Election on Sept 24th, during which a new Vice President of legislative affairs was appointed.
Advisor Alta Northcutt Reports:
An election and ballot drop-off site will be available for all persons eligible for on-the-spot voting from October 24th to November 7th in Room 913 at the Aptos Campus.
On November 3rd, a Board of Trustees meeting will be held at 6:15 in the Cabrillo Horticulture Conference Center, and will discuss the status of the legislative act AB1705.
October 9th 2025
President Viviana Moreno Reports:
At the Board of Trustees meeting on October 6th, there was expressed concern regarding faculty losses. A projected 40 faculty members will retire within the next two years, subsequently causing a potential loss in class offerings, sections, and flexibility.
Interviews for the ongoing Presidential Hiring Search were conducted on Oct 15 and 16, with deliberations on Oct 17. The final applicants will be invited to attend an on-campus forum on November 12 and 13. Both will be hosted at the Aptos campus and will be livestreamed to the Watsonville campus, and are open to the general public. Hiring recommendation will be presented at the Board of Trustees Meeting on December 8.
Student Trustee Grace Goodhue Reports:
The Board of Trustees passed a motion to publicly support Proposition 50.
College Representative (Vice President of Student Services) Blanca Baltazar-Sabbah Reports:
A one-year extension of the Title V Grant–also known as the Hispanic Serving Institution Grant–was approved, following the federal government’s cancellation of the funding in September. It is also the final year of Cabrillo’s Title III STEM Grant. For the year, the college received an additional $345,000, which will be used to provide additional support to STEM students.
Watsonville Campus Representative Delfina Torres Reports: Immigration services will now be available in room B104, located in Building B, every other Wednesday from 9am-5pm, starting October 8th, by appointment only. Students can make an appointment online at findyourally.com.
October 16th 2025
Vice President Jaime Hernandez-Villamar Reports:
The student and Academic Affair Council met to discuss the connection between financial aid, mental health, and student well being. Survey results showed 15% of students experience housing instability, 17% food insecurity, and 26% constant financial stress. Positive mental health grew 40%, while anxiety increased to 62%. Ten percent considered suicide in the past year.
Barriers to mental health services include financial concerns, limited appointment availability, and lack of time.
Initiatives include hiring more counselors, offering Mental Health First Aid refresher training, and hosting a harm reduction event.
Students also expressed a strong preference for short-term/eight-week courses, especially evening and night classes, with scheduling flexibility as a top priority.
Watsonville Campus Representative Delfina Torres Reports:
Food distribution dates are November 5th, 19th, and December 3rd from 11am-12:30pm in room A140.
October 23rd 2025
Watsonville Campus Representative Delfina Torres Reports:
Lockdown of Watsonville Campus occurred the morning of Thursday, October 23. Torres wanted to remind students of the counseling services available.
Advisor Jasmine Northcutt (in for Alta Northcutt) Reports:
ICC Handbooks are being revised and will be done during the 2026 spring semester.
New Business:
At the next Board of Trustees meeting, board members will discuss AB 1705 and will vote on the issue of removing Math-4 (Precalculus) from Cabrillo’s curriculum.
October 30th 2025
Student Submissions
The Scuttle encourages students to submit their writing/art for publication in our monthly issues. Below are two students' creative writing contributions. If you're interested in submitting something of your own, use this form.
WEST KOHALA
A blank canvas for swift shadows.
Erased and drawn again.
Erased.
Wisdom trampled and chewed.
Lost in the belly of time.
–Rocco A.
Rocco is a twenty-year-old student at Cabrillo College pursuing a transfer degree in English. He enjoys spending time outdoors, writing, and is a member of Cabrillo's Bookworms English Club.
A Mouth Full of Roses
TW: blood, body horror
Intimacy is an infection.
Professor Adrian Maughn taught poetry in the oldest building at the University. Adrian was a lonely and desolate man, his eyes dark, his skin pale. Being a professor of poetry, he spent his days immersed in prose, his only companions the voices of long-dead writers. He moved through the campus like a shadow no one noticed. He poured tea for no one but himself. His room, cluttered and small, was on the highest level of the building overlooking the campus. He watched the students below him, the height making them seem like ants.
These buildings hold generations. Ivy climbed the brick walls, arched windows caught the morning light. The heart of the campus, the courtyard, offered a space where students gathered, their laughter mingling with the distant chime of the clock tower. But the thing that Adrian was most drawn to was the garden.
The garden—a serene retreat from the everyday bustle of life. The garden was arranged in a circle around a central stone fountain, paths winding through the beds, bordered by low hedges lined with benches. Each section of the garden burst with color—vibrant reds, soft pinks, and deep golden yellows, their petals unfolding in perfect spirals. Climbing roses wrapped around arched entryways, forming natural tunnels. The garden was not just a garden to Adrian—it was a sanctuary. And every morning, too early for students to be present, Adrian would sit on a bench, writing or reading, or taking a walk through the garden.
One day, as Adrian read Woolf on a bench, a woman stood at the heart of the garden, near the fountain. Adiran glanced up, then did a double take. He recognized her, though he couldn’t quite place where from. Perhaps he’d seen her in the garden before. The thought flickered and vanished quickly.
But then she was there again. And again. And again. And Adrian started noticing, looking. Her curly black hair fell at her shoulders, her skin, smooth and radiant, seemed to glow against the sun. She was always dressed in white, dressed in innocence. But she was either too far away or her back was turned to him, and he couldn’t see her face.
Then one day, she turned around. She looked at him. Her eyes were a deep, dark brown. There was something calm yet powerful in her gaze. Her black curls framed her face effortlessly. And she smiled. That was how it began.
He pretended not to look. She pretended not to notice. As the days went on, they started to exchange brief “hello”s. Those brief hellos turned into small talk. The small talk turned into conversations on benches. They would talk about the weather and how they spent their days. She was young, but too old to be a student. No department. No name. She was…unknown.
She was silent. Soft. Secretive. It felt like they’d known each other. He returned to the garden each morning, drawn by something neither scholarly nor sane. Sometimes, she wouldn't speak at all. Some days, she’d come late, or not at all. And he’d feel it—a slight ache, a presence missing.
Soon, all the poems he wrote were about her. The way she spoke turned into sonnets, the way she held herself into haikus. Their moments together stayed with him, long after the sun set and the students vanished into their dorms. He found himself lingering longer in the garden after class. Talking more than he usually did during lectures. Thinking about her at odd hours and during his morning tea.
She carried a leather-bound notebook filled with sketches—of leaves, birds, clouds, faces. Once, when she walked away, he glanced at one of the pages. It was him. Sitting on a bench, reading, surrounded by roses.
And then one day, she let him kiss her underneath one of the rose arches. When they kissed, the air between them was quiet, as if the Earth had paused to listen. It wasn’t rushed—the thing unfolded between them. It was hesitant, reverent—like approaching something sacred. Like if they moved too quickly, it would vanish. Their lips met in a kiss that wasn’t hungry or urgent, but careful. The kind of kiss that asked a question before it demanded an answer. It was soft, quick, and gentle.
*
There was no single moment he could point to, no sharp turning point when everything changed. Instead, it crept in quietly—slow, persistent, and invisible at first. The erosion of self began subtly. A slight fever that lingered longer than expected, a flush to his skin that made him pink as a rose. But soon the symptoms piled on. His eyes began to sting and water without reason, his throat felt raw in the mornings, and an ache settled into his bones.
Sleep abandoned him next. Nights stretched long and restless, filled with tossing and turning, his mind refusing to quiet, no matter how exhausted he felt. He would lie awake, staring at the ceiling in the dim glow of the campus lights filtering through the blinds, counting the seconds in hopes they'd pass faster. Despite the exhaustion dragging at his limbs and the fog clouding his brain, he kept showing up to class. He smiled through the pain, convincing others, and sometimes even himself, that he was fine. But inside, something was shifting.
One day, during a lecture on Whitman, he reached for his mug, lifted it, and took a slow sip. A moment later, a small cough escaped his throat—dry, abrupt, barely worth noticing. He frowned slightly, cleared his throat, and set the mug down. But the cough returned—sharper now. He straightened himself, another cough, then another, each more forceful than the last. His distracted students glanced over. He waved a hand, mouthed, "I'm fine." He isn’t.
His chest tightened. A fit erupted from deep in his lungs, uncontrolled. He hunched forward, choking, as if something invisible had latched onto his ribs and begun to shake them. His face flushed a deep red, and veins rose in his neck. He couldn’t speak, only cough—violently, hysterically.
He excused himself to the restroom. He gagged and clawed at his neck, feeling the skin swell as if something beneath was preparing to tear through him. He gripped the edge of the sink and began to cough up blood.
Tears swelled in his eyes. He opened his mouth wide, putting his head back slightly to see the opening of his throat. And then he noticed them. He was frozen with terror. Horror etched itself into every vein in his body.
Thorns. Thorns growing inside his throat.
He called an ambulance, they took him to the E.R. The doctors tried to cut them out, but they only grew back. “There’s nothing we can do,” they told him, and they sent him home.
Adrian’s sanity started to spiral slowly, and students noticed. His lectures turned frantic, fevered. He read Dickinson like a man drowning in metaphor. Eventually, he stopped showing up.
Adrian slowly took on the form of a monster. His veins pulsed like they no longer belonged to him. When he pressed his fingers against the lines, something shifted back. Flowers began to force their way between his ribs, their stems wrapping around his bones. Petals unfolded in his lungs with every breath he struggled to take. Moss spread across his skin, tiny buds pushed through the soft flesh of his cheeks. His fingertips hardened into bark. His breath carried the scent of damp soil, and he wanted to scream, but all that escaped his throat was the rustle of leaves. His body was no longer his own.
One night, delirious with fever, he crawled his way into the garden, and she was there, waiting, the woman who had cursed him with this monstrous fate. “What are you?” he asked. She looked at him sadly. “A muse. A curse. A monster to some.” “Is it you? Are you doing this to me?” he asked, his limbs taking on the shapes of twisted vines and bark. “Yes,” she said, “yes, it’s me.”
“I can stop it,” she said. “Please,” he choked, “anything.” Tears mixed with sweat on his disheveled face as he struggled to keep his body from betraying him. “I can end it,” she said, “I can cure you. But in doing so, I will die.” “What—what do you mean?” he stuttered. “I’m a part of you now,” she said. “Haven’t you noticed? I’m in your veins, your bones, your lungs. I can see myself in your skin.” His body trembled. "Then... then why don’t I just kill you?" His voice was thick not with anger, but with sorrow. "Why not end this madness now?" he said. Her lips curled downwards. "Because, no matter how this ends, you will forever be tied to me. You will still live on like this.”
A moment of silence hung between them, stretching like the vines creeping up his body. "I can’t live like this," he whispered, tears running down his dirt-streaked face. And then, she held him by the shoulders, tears in her eyes. “Then let it consume you. Let love turn you into something unrecognizable.”
The decision had been made. She began to walk away, and then she stopped, turned to face him. She said her last words before disappearing into the night. “The muse and the curse—they’re bound.”
*
Adrian did not collapse, but laid himself down on the ground, on a patch of soil between the rose bushes. He curled himself into a slight ball, hugging his knees to his chest. Death did not take him in an instant—it was slow, it took its time. His body started to merge with the soil, as though the Earth had been waiting for him. His skin loosened, thinned, and then surrendered. His breath stuttered once, then ended, leaving only the hum of insects and the faint perfume of flowers.
By morning, there was no man, only a lush patch of earth where the ground seemed unnaturally rich. The earth rose slightly where he had fallen, a small mound. And over the years, that mound grew into a beautiful rose bush. He had become part of the garden—not resting beneath it, but as it.
Intimacy is an infection.
–Trinity Szoke
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