When I was twelve, I often wished Uncle Pete were my father. My own dad treated me well and helped me in all sorts of important ways. But his tastes ran to hiking and rare stamps, while Uncle Pete hunted… Continue Reading
She rolls up her sleeve, and the story it tells is enough to halt my normal question-and-answer portion of the consultation. I sit back on my stool, placing my hands on my knees, and look back to her face. Her… Continue Reading
Lakeisha’s Momma called her “Princess” every morning, as she braided Lakeisha’s hair into fat black pigtails. Lakeisha was very glad that Momma had no idea of the ogre her Princess faced on the school bus every day. Red lights were… Continue Reading
People who’ve lived in proximity to a monster sometimes acquire a tangential notoriety of their own. Reporters pursuing them usually bag nothing more insightful than “always saw it coming” or “never had a clue.” I’d evaded the first round when… Continue Reading
Here’s how shit-canning works at our shop. Near the end of the day one is summoned to a conference room to sign papers and abide ritual expressions of sympathy. Then, one must leave the building immediately. Shortly after close of… Continue Reading
Cobra means the grandest, and not just any grandest, but a female grandest. That is not why Cobra’s parents chose the name for her, though. On the contrary, they chose it because in the mountains south of the Caspian Sea,… Continue Reading
I found my sister in the hotel pool, floating just beneath the surface. It was supposed to be our last family holiday before she left for university and she had hoped for a holiday romance. A stranger pumped her chest… Continue Reading
I guess the main reason why I can’t be a lesbian is because I’m not very logical. (I’m failing math, for one.) I see the butch girls doing things like helping others move with pickup trucks and with sensible shoes,… Continue Reading
First Place Winner Flash Fiction Chronicles String-of-10 FOUR Contest — Spring ’12 Jacob, his ladder; Elliot, his rocket. Nearly a year, every wage Elliot made down at Thompson’s Organ Factory was put into his backyard science experiment. He used an… Continue Reading
Lena was getting sick of being nagged. She played along so as not to upset anybody; her son Dean, his wife Sandrine, her best friend Carol. Best friends are hard to come by and maybe Carol had a point. She… Continue Reading