It’s time to divide and transplant the winter-dormant residents of Bellamy’s garden. The shovel and she work as one: slice and step and scoop. Gloves on, hair back. Low sun slants across the sleeping plants. A fern over there will… Continue Reading
“Pimple?” he asked. “Um, yeah.” Her fingers lowered from where she had been idly pinching the pressure point on her chin. “I guess all this sunscreen doesn’t agree with my skin.” Maia ground her teeth and shaded her eyes, gazing… Continue Reading
Joe thought we should dress up as the Holy Family for a Christmas card. “Since nobody knows who Eli’s dad is.” That kept him in the doghouse well into January. I don’t know why Mom got so bent up about… Continue Reading
I press A7 on the vending machine — it shudders as my Mountain Dew gets stuck in the contraption, grunts like an old man coming in his sock. Its LED lights flicker as I kick the damn thing one, two,… Continue Reading
I am sitting here watching the news, numbed by the endless repetition of details, each time with just a little more added to the picture. The man standing there with a phone in his right hand and a raised arm… Continue Reading
He kept the award in the bathroom on a shelf with an old box of band-aids. It hadn’t always lived there. At some point, he was sure, it must’ve been out in the living room, maybe even the kitchen, he… Continue Reading
12:00 PM The day of the eclipse, the plumber came to dig up the yard. Apparently, the sewage pipe caught water like an outstretched hand. One day, the pipe would break, and it would be really bad, only it hadn’t… Continue Reading
If you look closely in the mirror, in the brief eyes formed when windows darken, in moments your self becomes unavoidable; you will see all the heirlooms your mother has gifted you. Some heirlooms call gazes to themselves, like a… Continue Reading
“It was this wild experiment they did at Stanford University back in the ’80s,” he said. “It was the early ’70s.” Elliot waved his hand, barely pausing. “Sure, sure, the ’70s. Like a real-life Lord of the Flies kind of… Continue Reading
Our hospice staff did everything we could for poor old Mr. Calvin. Lots of drugs so he would feel nothing. The finest bedding so we could say he felt comfortable. Loved ones visited often throughout his brief stay at our… Continue Reading