It started out with a scribble. As she dragged a blue crayon across a crumpled sheet of white paper. The messy scrawl was an abstract piece. But like all art, it was a mark from the artist — I am… Continue Reading
I’m alone at the beach. The sky is grey and the sea is blown-out mush. I walk where the sand is dry and scan for sea glass. I scoop up some shards of brown, a few white and one that’s… Continue Reading
“Kanagawa. Next stop, Kanagawa Station.” It’s the same every morning at 9:42am. I glance up at the announcement, waiting for the subway doors to slide open with a whoosh. A handful of people get off, but only the foxes get… Continue Reading
When I crooked my neck to check on my six-year-old daughter Maggie, I found her standing in the aisle near a tidy swim trunk display. She peered up through curls of overgrown bangs at a young male mannequin. His fiberglass… Continue Reading
Sarah saw Pri in the reflection in the window. She didn’t want to talk to anyone — this was her break. Time to herself. Time to relax after furiously catching up with emails, and before getting stuck into whatever primary… Continue Reading
He turned a corner in the Big Barn hardware and saw a woman at the far end of the aisle gawking up the skyscrapers of faucets, basins, and vanities with an open-lipped smile so shocked with delight that he stopped… Continue Reading
Momma homeschooled. I’d kneel in the back seat of our Buick on a carpet of fast food wrappers counting the contents of the trunk. This was Momma’s version of education, having me remind her what we had in our stolen… Continue Reading
They were on their way to buy wine and cheese and pick out a movie at the video store. It was his first time meeting her parents and he wanted to impress them even though she had said they were… Continue Reading
After 30 years, one of the first things you mention between bites of a California frittata is that spring evening. I remember too. Both of us had been alone in Manhattan. We met up and saw Anthony Hopkins in Equus… Continue Reading
“See you on Friday at The Jac!” Nancy yells from the back of the black cab before it rattles away down Old Dale Street, rear lights hazy through the mizzle. My raised hand falters mid-air as I take in what… Continue Reading