Linda smoothed out her party-planning list, and neatly checked off each completed item: menu prepared, detailed food and decoration list with timings for food preparation, tablecloths and napkins washed and ironed, hot and cold pre-dinner snacks made, weather forecast noted… Continue Reading
The shaman stood on the high mountain peak, wind screaming through his hair. Some, on the edge of such a precipice, would have been gripped with trepidation. Not the shaman. How do you scare someone who has no fear? He… Continue Reading
No matter how many years pile on, I’ll always remember that little girl perched, super-still, on that pristine, red park bench. I must’ve been around her age, seven or eight — maybe, young enough to wonder how a person could… Continue Reading
“It’s time to be young again.” Tyrone masked his nervousness with a laugh. “Are you sure we’ll remember each other?” Candice asked again. “How could I forget the love of my life?” Tyrone replied, as he did every time. A… Continue Reading
“No… No… Dr. Felinestein, stop that. Stop that right now. Naughty cat! Naughty cat! You will not flicker the transdimensional summoning obelisk. You will not flicker the transdimensional summoning obelisk and unleash the unyielding hordes of hell. Dr. Felinestein! Dr.… Continue Reading
Sitting in his kitchen, the home he had managed to cling onto, staring at an envelope, and wondering how accurately he could guess what the letter said without opening it, Dan settled on something close to “I’m not going to… Continue Reading
There must be others walking along the bottom of the ocean, but I’ve never seen anyone. It’s a big place. Light can only travel to a depth of about two hundred meters: I’ve been walking the Mariana Trench in total… Continue Reading
On the last day of fall, I confronted my shadow. The sun, dying beneath the silvery clouds, stretched its long arms across my face, and my shadow walked beside me. I scuffed my sneakers along the sidewalk, knocking loose pebbles… Continue Reading
Eleanor hovered over the crowd for half the pageant before spotting him: baseball cap, sunglasses, one hand thrust deep into his pocket, the other snapping photo after photo of “Little Miss Missouri Ozarks” contestants. There was always at least one… Continue Reading
In summer, the soles of Eva’s feet were permanently stained crimson from playing barefoot under the huge mulberry tree that to her ten-year-old eyes seemed to take up a full half of her backyard. Every day she ran outside, squashing… Continue Reading