Three eleven-year-old boys hiked to the reservoir that night. They cornered a baby rabbit, separated from its mother, terrified and alone. “Let’s kill it,” said Jake. He was the more muscular and intense, already the alpha male, his ice-blue eyes… Continue Reading
As a rule, I don’t pick up hitchhikers. I’ve always played things safe, not taken chances. It’s probably why I’m an insurance salesman, travelling alone — always alone — along the backroads of Louisiana. But then I see her standing… Continue Reading
“Get up.” Diane stirred from her impromptu nap and a dream of her ex-husband, Marc. Before he served her divorce papers, before their relationship started to disintegrate. In the fantasy, they were holding hands through Central Park, the same place… Continue Reading
Malcolm Carson backed into the revolving door and pushed it with his elbow. Fake candle. Check. Sparkling cider and plastic champagne flutes. Check. Bud vase with one pink Gerber daisy, her favorite. Check. Grease stained tablecloth from Pepo’s. Check. Soggy… Continue Reading
Everyone has the potential for violence. You’d be amazed, really. There’s the girl stripping wings off tiny white moths behind the building where her dad beats her mom, or the nurse who screams obscenities at her roommate after a shift… Continue Reading
The snow crunches under my glove as I compress it across the lip of the ridge. I’ve been sitting here for hours in a snowy ditch, waiting for something, something that I’ve just seen — movement. Scarcely taking my eyes… Continue Reading
“You got to know who to insult: You can insult the barman, you can insult the waitresses with their see-through mini-skirts, you can insult the whole god damn band, on their god damn stage, with their god damn instruments —… Continue Reading
Roger would be home any second now. Eleanor made one final sweep of the house, checking that everything was perfect. Trays of finger foods arrayed on gleaming platters. Liquor and mixers lined up on the pass-through countertop. Cake four layers… Continue Reading
The lawman tapped his steel-toed boot lightly against the door. It swung open, revealing two couches facing one another. The room itself was modestly clean besides a few beer bottles lying neatly in a pile in the corner of the… Continue Reading
You can say anything to babies, if you do it in the proper tone of voice. “Once upon a time,” and I put down Good Night Moon, “Grandma’s very bestest friend was a boy named Rickie. And he became a… Continue Reading