Cara just left and already the house is in ruins. Dishes rise in tetris piles on every countertop. Mark doesn’t remember eating off them. The fridge hums to itself, dumb and empty. “I’m the fastidious one,” he tells the cat,… Continue Reading
Several journalists came to interview me after the confrontation with the terrorist in Edinburgh. None of the reports were very clear and some were wildly inaccurate: a young woman from The Sun newspaper, called Serena, said she wanted to compile… Continue Reading
For Mary Koncel In corn country, they never think poorly of a man dressed like a chicken, especially if he’s hawking a flock of severed wings at the Flat Top Diner. I knew such a man, who gave up his… Continue Reading
My friend Frank once told me how he liked to play God. “I’ve been playing since I was little,” he said. There was an eagerness in him as he tapped his fingers against the counter, an excitement to share his… Continue Reading
She knew the credit card number by heart; had memorized it for quicker, stealthier online purchases. In the darkness, her cell phone screen glowed a tinge of blue, highlighting her cheekbones and casting cavernous circles for eyes. Her husband, John,… Continue Reading
Harry sat in a semi-circle with five other kids, waiting for John Barrett to hurry up and open his birthday presents. John, who Harry only ever hung out with whenever his real friends were grounded or out of town, stood… Continue Reading
If I buy the jumpers baggy, my mother mightn’t notice. I rifle through the knitwear in Penney’s. Saturday after lunch and it’s manic — young ones jostling, women aiming buggies like weapons. Mam let me come to the city, but… Continue Reading
Chuck reached for the phone. He had never talked much on the phone and had never much liked it. He wasn’t that sort of man. He had been the sort of man who awoke at 4:00 a.m., even on weekends,… Continue Reading
Janelle stared at the medicine cabinet mirror and gave herself, and her black and white polka dot bikini, a final appraisal. She tried not to grimace. Trusting her counselors was part of her therapy. The real test was what reaction… Continue Reading
Her father had slapped her twice already. Her face is still red from the blows. Tears run down her cheeks. She is obstinately silent. They sit in the beige Formica kitchen on the first floor of their new, still bare… Continue Reading