When I was 4 years old, my dad said, “Your grandfather is a bird.”Imagine my surprise. He pointed out our kitchen window to the dark specks in our backyard and said, “Like a crow, or a magpie.” I didn’t understand… Continue Reading
After my promotion, the pay cheque didn’t look quite right sat in my account. The rent wasn’t going to make a dent in it, and the same figure would be arriving next month. And the month after. My head felt… Continue Reading
Her home was not a reflection of herself. Its walls didn’t exude her humor, wit, or pastimes. Shia was the result of a culture she didn’t belong to, its customs rooted in pop culture references and hip-hop. I can remember… Continue Reading
I park in her driveway, walk up her walk, and turn her key in its lock. It feels wrong, and the door sticks, as if it agrees. As if even it knows I’m far too late. I’ve driven through two… Continue Reading
If Kevin stole the lipstick, if he slipped the tube tagged Fuschia Shock into the front pocket of his jeans, poked it between the denim slits nonchalantly enough as if it were possible to pretend his brain was unaware of… Continue Reading
One Wednesday morning in the middle of March, Isaac Thomas arrived at his father’s house to find the elderly poet recumbent on the attic staircase, holding onto a Christmas tree. The tree, which Isaac recognized from his childhood, lay on… Continue Reading
Paul looked down at the screen in his hands and sighed. It was the last day of September and he could see the looming winter months of unemployment as clearly as he could see the storm gathering overhead. One bolt… Continue Reading
Rose was a droplifter. I must admit until I met her, I’d never heard the term. She introduced me to it when we were on our first date at Starbucks. We’d met on a dating site, and after we’d had… Continue Reading
Captain Montgomery Ffitch (retired) finished pouring pine needles into the bee smoker and switched off the television. He’d been disheartened to hear the lockdown was due to end. Bojo and his government cronies were itching to open the country up… Continue Reading
Bill sat on a bench by the village green. He figured it was a Sunday as the little shop was to be closed all day. He read an old newspaper he’d found until he got so hungry that he couldn’t… Continue Reading