Fast car to the coast, he said. Standing around in the schoolyard, we imagined a big black car, maybe with running boards, like you see in the movies. The boy didn’t say anything more. He just kept picking up chestnuts… Continue Reading
The front moved every night and with it moved the war. Shimmering and impenetrable, the front advanced and receded at eleven o’clock, sharp. Without care and concern it crossed birch forest and rivers alike, and split homes where it stopped.… Continue Reading
The news says that today’s temperature is the highest recorded in twenty-five years. With this comes a choking humidity. To relieve myself of the oppressive weather, I take off my skin, unzipping it from the back. Immediately I’m rewarded with… Continue Reading
He wakes up the next day, surprised to discover that his missing thumb is back. The doctor, who had advised Ted yesterday that she couldn’t fix the smashed digit, is even more perplexed. She’d amputated the limb just 24 hours… Continue Reading
I sit on the bottom stair of the empty house, sold sign standing by the hedge. Every item is rehomed or lying deep inside landfill on the edge of town. I can smell George’s snuff and spicy aftershave before I… Continue Reading
As the rain fell outside, Peng’s hands danced with a piece of paper, folding, smoothing, and turning. Fascinated, Ms. Lewis watched as the fourth grader turned a square into a diamond, then a kite, and finally a crane. “I’ve always… Continue Reading
The song on the radio was from high school. She and her friend used to sing it as loud as possible when they drove to soccer practice. She would’ve turned it up, but she was in the backseat of her… Continue Reading
In my defense, Mom shouldn’t have kept the Communion elements in the rumpus room. In her defense, the room wasn’t used much. As an only child, it’s hard to make a rumpus, especially when being the minister’s daughter renders you… Continue Reading
That Winter, to me, will always be Clare in a bright red cape, puffing on a snowy street. Moving in in January, I dropped a box of my parents’ old crockery down the stairs, and never replaced it. It was… Continue Reading
6:37 in solitary could be any time of day. Alone twenty-three hours, I get quick glimpses of the guards. Jenkins: blond, tight ponytail that pulls up her temples, makes her look surprised. Reese: watery eyes, coughs while he waits for… Continue Reading