Lucy’s personality isn’t part of her charm, so Simon isn’t offended. But he’s tired. If she doesn’t want to listen, why’d she bother calling? “Just do it,” she says. “I know you miss your momma, and that’s sad, but c’mon! It’s terrifically fucked, and funny, …
I don’t know how old I was the year I came to live with the Macklesons; they took me from outside the Parkers’ house where I was lying alone on the front lawn. They put me in a room with their seven-year-old daughter Serena …
It was an impossible choice. Kill or be killed. The sweat on the man’s brow. The gun quivering in one hand. So I did it. With a lunge and direct aim at his throat. He went down. Now I am here. Waiting for my day …
A man flops on a park bench. He reflects on losses and near misses, disappointments stored like copper coins in a mayo jar. His pennies wait years to get cashed. He peels off a patch of forearm skin murdered by the Indian summer. A school …
11:46 a.m. A woman wearing a down jacket with silver duct tape clutches the hand of a young child. She throws a half empty coffee cup into the bin under the counter, walks past a full length mirror and glances at her reflection. Twisting her …
Clayton Whitman stood in the dark side alley with disgust written on his face. The aroma of cigarettes, burnt food, and urine hovered like a cloud in the enclosed space, seeming to radiate off the damp walls. Below, a few mice scuttled about. Above, …
People like us, like Martin and me, didn’t skip funerals. Especially not our own, or his own, I should say. “Just let go,” the masseuse again commanded in her Russian-ish accent. I couldn’t blame her for trying. But I could almost picture my shoulder muscles …
One night you get set up on a blind date with a struggling magician. You’re attracted to him—he’s tall, a great listener, and serious. As you arrive, he’s idling at the bar in a three-piece-suit, which makes you feel guilty for wearing a shaggy, threadbare …
Girl crept down the stairs on her first night home, treading sideways to keep her weight off the outer, squeaky portion of each step. When she descended far enough into the living room, she saw the Devil in a corner chair that no one ever …
Lucas closed her nightstand drawer, careful to leave no evidence he had opened it―she would notice a handkerchief pushed aside, know he had been snooping through her things. Retrieving his book, he reclined on the reading sofa next to the window collecting patches of …
