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
I was six years old the first time I saw a man disappear. My parents were arguing in the kitchen that morning. I pretended not to hear it. A little later my father came into my room wearing a suit.… Continue Reading
“The sea can be unruly this time of year. The waves wild and unforgiving. What were you doing out there in the middle of it?” The stranger pushed his potatoes around the plate with his fork before stabbing some and… Continue Reading
There’s a moment when you’re swinging. When the swing is as high as it can go and you’re suspended in midair. If you lean back on your way up to that moment, you’ll find yourself surrounded by sky, suspended in… Continue Reading
At first, it just screamed and tore the place up. It turned my shelves over, ripped my curtains, pissed on my bed, and threw crap everywhere. It was bad, sure, but it was understandable. The monkey was a wild animal.… Continue Reading
I swish the curtains open, and the sunlight nearly blinds me. Typical — on the day it matters, it pours with rain, but on the day after it matters, it’s bright and sunny. Just my luck. I shuffle towards the… Continue Reading
The bell rings when a person enters the store, the sound light and musical. Like sunlight, it cuts through the shadows in the open room to the desk at the back. Nils has a small lamp lit on his desk… Continue Reading
“Quinn, guess what we found?” my mom said. She closed the fridge to look at me. I shrugged. I was home for the summer and I didn’t land an internship, which meant ice cream, lunches with old friends, and lying… Continue Reading