The cattle lay in pyramid stacks like hay. It was a wonder at his age that he could drive the tractor, let alone configure the skulls, and she supposed that’s why she let him do it. West of the Lawton… Continue Reading
Get into bird watching, and everything’s for the birds. Field outings and chat rooms. A copy of What Bird is That? is open lavishly in the study. The rest of the cosmos also has a habit of intruding. That day… Continue Reading
It doesn’t take a genius to see how cooking and making love are related. It does, however, take a genius to cook the way one makes love, or vice versa. The key ingredient is time. Ragù napoletano, for example, or… Continue Reading
It is that time of the day when the children emerge from their stifling primary school classrooms into the playground. Laughing, happy words tumble from their mouths. As always, Min is waiting by the window. She’s grown tall enough to… Continue Reading
Sometimes the toads would just sit out on the lawn, a choreographed semi-circle of horror, reverberating their low growly groan around our blonde weatherboard house in a way that tickled my spine. If I had enough courage I’d shine our… Continue Reading
Rufus stops at the clearing in the woods every day hoping Lola will come down again, just like that one miraculous morning when she suddenly appeared among the towering bamboo stalks and he fell in love for the very first… Continue Reading
Isaac strikes the axe head into the stump we’re using for the beheadings. The bit stays wedged into the hardwood. He holds the wiggling carcass. It’s weird how chickens do that after they’re dead. I’m still plucking the bird he… Continue Reading
A teenage girl holding a baby opened the splintered door and nodded. I followed her upstairs where her man was on the couch watching TV. “What,” he said, not looking. “I’d like to buy an ounce,” I stammered. “Where you… Continue Reading
Jenny had swallowed time and space. A lot of it. And now she was feeling…what? Bloated? Yes. Reflux? Maybe. Heartburn? Definitely. “Have some time. Have some space.” Mark, her boss, had instructed on that initial dreadful day—without her husband, with… Continue Reading
I pick up a pink, glittery, ceramic bowl, and am reminded of my ex-boyfriend’s hatred of all things sparkling and feminine. If we were still together, purchasing this bowl would have been an act of rebellion. I assumed I would… Continue Reading