Stefan found the monkey hiding under a dumpster in the alley behind the Caleta Hotel. He was a scrawny Barbary Macaque with matted, clumpy hair. Lost and hungry. Stefan, himself a little lost and hungry in a different sense, lured him with a… Continue Reading
Alan winced each time a kink surfaced in Jerry’s fifth birthday party, fearing he’d catch the heat of Maggie’s ire. He was innocent of the first problem; the rain ruined their scheduled activities at the new park, a square block… Continue Reading
A snowman was murdered last night. Tire tracks ran across the front lawn. This murder wasn’t on the 10 o’clock news or on the front page of the paper this morning. There wasn’t even a tiny blurb in the local… Continue Reading
He still has the taste of champagne in his mouth, this taste of apples cut with a rusty knife. His fingers are numb as they curl around the steering wheel, the smooth plastic steadying the slight tremor in his hands… Continue Reading
I met her on a go-fast night at Will’s house. She was an old friend of Will’s. She slouched on the couch. I put myself on the floor in front of her after we were introduced. Her eyes were eclipsed… Continue Reading
They baited the trap with a crust of bread because it was the only food left in the house. Patrick huddled behind Leon, soaking up some of his brother’s body heat. Between the anticipation and cold he needed to pee so… Continue Reading
The sculpture in the atrium of St. John’s Hospital was a nine-foot visual train wreck. It was tortured, and distorted and vague, and its nearly naked body was indecently muscular. Deirdre’s personal opinion was that dead saints shouldn’t sport six-pack… Continue Reading
There once lived a lazy basset hound named Alexander who loved nothing better than eating, washing his paws, and daydreaming about chasing hares. Successfully snaring a hare, however, remained only a fantasy for, unlike most of his breed, Alexander was… Continue Reading
It’s gritty at the shore, gets between the toes. The lake waits, the skin of it blistering under a low-slung sun that makes mirrors of flat pebbles, the fastenings on bikinis, metal bottle tops. You think you see the sun’s… Continue Reading
The droning roar of the lawnmower directly outside the window was not the source of Rudy’s irritation. Nevertheless he used it as a reason to lash out. He grabbed a crutch and knocked out the dowel rod support. The window… Continue Reading