“Now you’ll stay in at night,” Joe told Houdini, the big, orange, cantankerous-looking tabby he was trying to stuff into a carrier. Not flippin’ likely, said Houdini, although of course he didn’t because he was a cat. Instead, he arched… Continue Reading
Docking at the space station, Dex Branson momentarily forgot about the two-ton shark in the science bay. He was dreaming about cosmonaut Martina Voluskova, “with whom I shall soon rendezvous,” he chortled, eyeing his case of smuggled vodka. Later, with… Continue Reading
Gertrude froze, the morning dew soaking through her thin-soled slippers. Half-eaten pink petals littered her lawn. A full swath of her prize tulips had been chewed down to nubby stalks — the rest looked intact, for now. She could only… Continue Reading
(After Saki) “Mum’s in the loo,” the young girl told him. “She takes forever. I mean literally for ever.” Frank sat. This had been his mother’s idea. “You’ve got to meet people, Frankie Boy. You’re thirty-five. Upload a photo. Invent… Continue Reading
I had a meeting with the editor of a well-known magazine. She said, “I think your paradigm got stuck up your monomyth.” “Oh dear. Is that bad?” “Bad? You want to be a writer, don’t you?” “Well, I did. I’m… Continue Reading
Exhaust fumes and damp air hung over the streets in a miasma that exhausted Sidney Berger. Still two hours to drive the fleet cab before his shift ended. The half-filled container of coffee threatened to slip off the dashboard and… Continue Reading
Twenty minutes into the role-playing exercise, Marco flipped, tearing off the mask, hurling it onto the floor, and grinding it under his heel in one fluid movement. “I don’t want to be a mouse,” he said to Delaney. “You always… Continue Reading
My wife sleeps peacefully beside me. I lie awake, while a recurring nightmare involving a schoolyard bully dissolves like a movie fadeout. I’m far too old to suffer anxiety over being bullied as a boy, but long suppressed memories find… Continue Reading
December, 1963 The Etch A Sketch nearly passed through Martin’s hands without a second glance, but his neighbor jabbed him with an elbow. Martin froze at the image of the starburst drawn in grey plastic. “It’s Aaron,” his neighbor, Sanjeet,… Continue Reading
Dimitri tolerated the crown. It was too sparkly, and the duct tape itched his stone scalp, but he put up with it because the new homeowners were young. “Just Married.” Right now, everything was the first: first house, first lawn,… Continue Reading