The mountain was called the Sleeping Giant. I stood at the peak, the prostrate Giant’s clifftop shoulder, admiring the vista of leafy crowns, the rugged ravines, and slow sailing of herculean clouds, when something tapped my shoulder. I swiveled around.… Continue Reading
Robert closed his eyes to hold back an unexpected swell of tears. It had been six years since he visited Sadie here at Fletcher House. His own cowardice and regret had kept him from visiting her more often. He simply… Continue Reading
Three teenage boys slouched in the Grimm High School hallway, smartphones inches from their faces. Nearby, someone had decorated a locker with construction-paper flowers and “Goldy!” in magnetic stars. The first boy waved his phone. “Her livestream’s starting. She better… Continue Reading
It was the teardrop, as it hit the page, that brought her around. It blotted the paper, expanding over the words: “Get out.” “Get out?” she asked herself. Her voice felt dull — muted, and a little drowned. She was… Continue Reading
The party was on that patio, but I wasn’t. Long-legged women in gauzy beachwear, sure-footed men in Bermuda shorts, these mothers and fathers had hauled their kids to the Cape for summer but now wanted nothing to do with us.… Continue Reading
The shadow of the man standing over me disturbs my sleep. A small weight dropping on my chest wakes me. I look at a plastic shopping bag and then at Frank, scratching his hedge of a brown beard at me… Continue Reading
Jay had seen some wild shit working for Dulles Pest Control. But he hadn’t been expecting a light-distorting anomaly that reportedly absorbed a housecat. “I heard you were good at handling the weirder stuff,” the client — Mr. Michaelson, Jay’s… Continue Reading
Once upon a time there was a village storyteller and the village depended on her to tell a story a day. A day didn’t start right without the storyteller’s story, so when the storyteller was ill, the villagers would bring… Continue Reading
She looked up from the warm cup of coffee held between both hands, her gaze following the steam wisps snaking upward, both involuntarily drawn toward and out the parted window. The window itself was old and should have been replaced… Continue Reading
Every time we get together we cook too much, and then we eat too much. Even though our parents did their best to try and teach us proper table manners, we hunch our backs, put our elbows on the table… Continue Reading