The cotton absorbs the tea’s bitterness, the paroxysmal pain. It engulfs him, fills him. The last time Wind had known such pleasure, there’d been a needle hanging out of his seeping, abscessed arm. Then he’d received the Knowing Sky’s cryptic… Continue Reading
Mrs. Ticktock spreads a tarp on the floor and places a machine of her own invention at the center of the room. The tall yellow cylinder with three silver gooseneck limbs ending in red, blue, and yellow funnels could be… Continue Reading
Frieda Jacobson drives west on I-80, her ten-year-old son Ron in the back. “Daddy gonna meet us at our new home?” Frieda lowers the visor of her small Chevy coupe against the glare of the setting sun. “Nope, and you… Continue Reading
The girl stood stock-still, her arms at her sides, on a bus bench along a two-lane road near a fast-food restaurant. She had on a ragged purple corduroy jumper and a blouse that never would be white again. A backpack… Continue Reading
My younger sister, Julie, sits on my bed cross-legged, watching me pack. Even though it’s only April my ten-year-old sister wears beige shorts, a pink T-shirt over a one-piece bathing suit. The purple pansies on the bathing suit can be… Continue Reading
The only thing between me and that saw-toothed bastard is a pair of black Nautica swim shorts. I take a deep breath and lean back into the life jacket. The afternoon sun bakes my face. Legs and arms underwater feel… Continue Reading
Show and tell at school was lame. Stamps and coins. Post cards and match book covers. Fred’s squashed frog. Even Bobby’s tarantula in a plastic cube. So I set out to find something worth talking about. I decided to collect… Continue Reading
“See anything you like?” the curse-broker asked, popping her head in through the door of the consultation room. Lauren looked up from the catalogue open across her lap. Last week, in those first moments of rage, the idea of supernatural… Continue Reading
Tonight, it’s dogs. A pack of feral dogs, silently following me through dark, unfamiliar streets. I move away, slowly but steadily, trying not to show fear. At least at first. The dogs don’t let me leave them behind, but they… Continue Reading
Silver tobacco fields streak by under a cloudless night sky. The road stretches on ahead, flat and straight. Hot air whistles in through the cracked window. My eyes flit between the rearview mirror, the speedometer, the road. Only a few… Continue Reading