“It’s not that simple, Charli! I can’t just tell them that I don’t want the kid! That I’m too young to handle this responsibility and don’t want it anyway! It’s a child, Charli! It’s my niece.” “I understand that, Maddox!… Continue Reading
Jolly was the word for four-year-old Joyce. Chubby-yet-energetic were three more. A bright, playful male child — despite the androgyny of his name — Joyce’s fascination with the sensory perceptions of life made it all the more appropriate a reference… Continue Reading
My memories of her are my earliest. She was the kind of mother you hear about in stories, ever patient. She made my father happy and he adored her. My sister and I were allowed to jump on the bed,… Continue Reading
She’d rather it was a tumor. Rachel drove her hands deep into the cool meat. When she squeezed her hands tight, she felt the soft thickness work through and surround her fingers. She set one hand free and cracked an… Continue Reading
Lydia chose Thailand because that’s where her four closest friends from Barnard told her she simply must. “The jungle! The spices! The color! The culture!” Their time in Bangkok and its surrounding villages was all they could even talk about after… Continue Reading
Do you remember me? I was once a great adventurer, journeying to distant lands, exploring lost ruins and chronicling momentous events. Now I’m trapped in a decaying ruin. If I show any weakness, my fellow prisoners will try to take… Continue Reading
His cheque arrived in the mail this morning. Punctual. The way it is every six months. A note folded inside it that just says: I’m sorry. I stand by the letterbox, staring at it a while, blinking back tears, remembering.… Continue Reading
Beth fingered the fresh bruises that ringed her neck. The pain, which responded to each prod, was soothing in its reliability. “What was different about yesterday, Beth?” asked the doctor sitting in the vinyl-covered visitor’s chair that faced her bed.… Continue Reading
Stars emerged beyond darkening skies over the Shenandoah forest. Though we’d just arrived at the campsite, Alex and Kevin insisted we build a fire straightaways. Fire assuaged ancient fears of tooth and claw buried in the lizard-brain and their grandfather’s… Continue Reading
My breath fogged the window as we passed Ogden Street. There was no First Street, but after the overpass, there’d be a Second and a Third. I’d ridden this loop many times over the years. It usually bore fruit. The… Continue Reading