Grief is an anchor, I think. It traps you in one moment, weighing you down interminably. I think about this constantly. I am thinking of it now, when the phone rings. Mila Gurevic, it says. The number is a jumble… Continue Reading
Buckley Harrison wished his baby sister had never been born. This was on his eighth birthday. Little Bella, a mere six months at the time, had ruined his party with her constant crying and screaming, and she then threw up… Continue Reading
A blinding blood red sun marked the break of dawn as it peered over distant crags, its warmth providing relief from the crisp air as they raced onwards. John had already journeyed to the Sacred Grounds before, though the vast… Continue Reading
My wife and I select two seats at random. The underground bunker’s gray walls surround us, with spots of sloppy plaster on the ceiling. After processing, we’ve been led to a colossal room through an endless hallway with a throng… Continue Reading
After the funeral, everyone left in pairs or groups, shoes crunching over the gravel drive, voices low and careful, as if they were afraid of waking something. I stood on the porch and watched them go, accepting hugs I didn’t… Continue Reading
It was meant to be an April Fool’s Day prank: put a goose in Carl’s old work truck and watch him deal with the problem. We figured Carl would enter his truck, get bit by an angry goose, and come… Continue Reading
Abel’s blood cast a blight upon the land. After he buried his brother, Cain could wrest from the soil nothing but beets. All that he planted — wheat, barley, even grapes — came up beets that stained his hands and… Continue Reading
Between my mother’s third and fourth husbands, she decided to go vegetarian. There must have been a boyfriend in between or something. Someone I have forgotten, that practiced yoga and charged crystals and stocked up on the green tea that… Continue Reading
I lined up the shot by habit more than hope. The sheriff’s face wavered in the heat, not heroic or villainous — just tired, creased by years of deciding who mattered and who didn’t. I squeezed the trigger. Click. The… Continue Reading
Kyle crept down the staircase into the cellar. One step. Two steps. Three steps. He lowered his bare foot to the fourth step and held it there for a moment, glancing down at the wooden stair and his bare toes.… Continue Reading