6:37 in solitary could be any time of day. Alone twenty-three hours, I get quick glimpses of the guards. Jenkins: blond, tight ponytail that pulls up her temples, makes her look surprised. Reese: watery eyes, coughs while he waits for… Continue Reading
“The sea can be unruly this time of year. The waves wild and unforgiving. What were you doing out there in the middle of it?” The stranger pushed his potatoes around the plate with his fork before stabbing some and… Continue Reading
I swish the curtains open, and the sunlight nearly blinds me. Typical — on the day it matters, it pours with rain, but on the day after it matters, it’s bright and sunny. Just my luck. I shuffle towards the… Continue Reading
The bell rings when a person enters the store, the sound light and musical. Like sunlight, it cuts through the shadows in the open room to the desk at the back. Nils has a small lamp lit on his desk… Continue Reading
The thing you need to understand is none of us liked him from the start. That’s why we weren’t too choked when we first heard about the breakup. It’s not that we didn’t care about my sister. Really, we were… Continue Reading
We were told to look both ways when we crossed the street and never talk to strangers. And if a stranger asked you to get in a car with them, you must say no. I listened because I was a… Continue Reading
Tegan and Raul. They kissed a lot. They were that kind of couple. The ones that lonely house wives fantasize about while they scrub piles of dirty dishes over their kitchen sinks. They talked a lot, joked a lot too,… Continue Reading
Because the once-upon-a-time boy made it here with wizened face and wise eyes, there’s no more uncertainty of the cold boxcar and each town rolling by, asking, Is this the one? Is this the one? Is this the one? Only… Continue Reading
My sister always amazed me with her lack of interest in everything. She had asthma as a kid. Every winter, as I dragged myself out of bed to attend school, she would be allowed to sleep in late. She was… Continue Reading
Rhonda preferred to think of herself as a scandalous lush, which sounded more acceptable, more Dorothy Parkeresque, than what her last lover (hardly a heartthrob, but good company on at least two memorable occasions) had called her — which was… Continue Reading