I was seven. That’s not right. I had just had the water balloon birthday party, so it was late summer of 1999. I was nine. The sun had started its dive into the cornfield-covered horizon and my stomach was full… Continue Reading
My future went missing at a minor league baseball game. Hurricanes vs. Growlers. It was the hottest day of the summer, and the heat bent the field, putting a mirage over everyone’s head. Then a man turned from the bleacher… Continue Reading
She wants a cookie, chocolate chip. But she can’t eat just one. If she starts, she’ll devour the whole box so she decides to go for a run instead and goes into the bedroom to change into her ‘running’ clothes… Continue Reading
Impatient. That’s the first word most people use to describe me. My friends always tease me for how easily annoyed I get when waiting for our food at a restaurant. Well, they would tease me. When I was alive that… Continue Reading
I told him that when the candy jar was empty, we were over. It was a joke, of course, my way of lightening our eventual breakup. Despite the fact I was quite certain we’d get married, have kids, do all… Continue Reading
When I was almost five, my Aunt Evelyn discovered that my birthday falls on International Talk like a Pirate Day. “ARRRRRRH,” Aunt Ev brandished a hooked hand and waited until I looked up from my cupcake. “This be the tale… Continue Reading
Your lips on a ram’s horn. A new year. You explained religion as a binary, 0s and 1s. Thou shalt. Thou shalt not. At an early age, or so you told me, you decided your upbringing, centered as it was… Continue Reading
Pleased to meet you. As you know, we start the interview with some standard bureaucratic questions. Do you remember Witchcaps? Right. I remember they were initially designed for edgy supermodels, so their popularity in elementary schools came as a surprise.… Continue Reading
Angus Mackay was waiting for his mate, when an old lady dressed in ragged clothes came up to him and muttered in a heavy Scottish accent, “You poor boy. You poor, sad, boy. Beware, beware…” Her voice rose to a… Continue Reading
I pull dresses and pants, jackets and blouses from the closet and stuff them into plastic trash bags. Given the pandemic, I couldn’t find a charity to take Pearl’s clothes even though, for all the COVID patients she treated, she… Continue Reading