When I was nineteen, my father began to talk about dying. “You’ll be the head of the house once I’m gone,” he’d say. “Don’t let those shysters at the funeral parlour take my money. Bury me behind the chicken coop… Continue Reading
The unexpected blow knocked me to the ground on my back and I landed on the hay. Before I could get up, I had him on top of me, panting and drenching me with his repulsive alcoholic breath. I tried… Continue Reading
I walked down the airplane aisle, feeling good in my favorite blue-flowered dress I had worn to work that day, trying to maneuver my carry-on bag so that it did not hit the people who were already seated. The smug… Continue Reading
Shelly loved Mama’s garden. It didn’t have as many pretty flowers as Gramma’s, but it also didn’t have so many thorns. Shelly hated thorns. Their vindictive little spikes would scrape her arms and legs whenever she tried to explore, patterning… Continue Reading
There are days when the shadows at water’s edge corral nothing but a chiaroscuro stippling of the pond’s murky surface; on other days, they gather curious creatures, some predatory. Today, the shadows cache a twelve-year-old girl, crouched beneath a willow… Continue Reading
A roach runs across my cutting board. Scurries down the drain. I flick on the garbage disposal. Listening to the crunch and bunch of matter satisfies. Wish a garbage disposal would churn through my mind. Pulverize my thoughts and feelings.… Continue Reading
Marcela pinched the corner of the afghan as if to fold it, lay it atop the bed, and leave the room. It was morning, which meant it was time for something. She thought a while, dumbfounded again at the misery… Continue Reading
After lunch, the teacher asks: “Children, is it possible to make something invisible and, if so, how might you achieve that?” This, for once, interests him. His current life goal is to be a close-up conjuror at weddings. “Invisibility cloak?”… Continue Reading
When Nurse asks if I want an epidural, I nod my head. Why hurt any more than I have to? I’ve dreaded this part for months. Those nights I laid awake with little feet striking my ribcage and wondering if… Continue Reading
While the grown-ups conferred in the hospital room, Lena filled the dim hallway with her anxious energy. She hopscotched up and down the checkered floor, avoiding the white tiles. Black tiles only. Black tiles only. Grandma alive. Lena pictured Grandma… Continue Reading