It always began and ended in the same way. May heralded the end of the college semester with heartfelt goodbyes, posted grades, and celebratory cocktails. June brought slumber with no alarms, lazy snacking, and beachy reading. But July tapped at… Continue Reading
The night before school goes back, my son and I watch his ‘Welcome to Year 2’ video, sitting side by side at the kitchen table. Within a few seconds, I can picture myself, legs wrapped around my son’s teacher, him… Continue Reading
DA: If I lose my wisdom, will my foolhardiness die with it? Doc: Excuse me? DA: If I lose my wisdom, will my foolhardiness die with it? You know, ying-yang, can one exist without the other? Doc: Ha-ha, I get… Continue Reading
“But Da, I don’t wanna this week.” “Ye have to. It’s Sunday.” “I don’t feel well.” “Don’t be daft. Yer goin, John Paul. Ye need to be there.’’ “It’s J… P,” I snapped back. John Paul is for the Pope… Continue Reading
“Come on, Teagan Jane. Let’s go.” Jarrett pulled me to my feet. “Where are we going?” It was the last Saturday night of the summer. Senior year started next week. “Let’s just go. I can’t be still anymore.” I let… Continue Reading
“Guinevere!” my mother said. My waking eyes saw everything as slow, disparate images on a just-light background; she was a flash of red athletic wear and a sudden weight on the end of my bed, a frenzied face and a… Continue Reading
Stickers from local hardcore bands and chewed gum are all over the rocket ship outside the Winn-Dixie. “I wanna go for a ride,” my little brother says. I had to put him in a t-shirt with the least amount of… Continue Reading
My sister slices the pie, her lips drawn together in a tight purse, the disapproving grimace of a person performing an unfamiliar task. We sit at the dining room table. I look because I can’t stop myself from staring over… Continue Reading
“I shouldn’t be here,” Siobhan said, biting her lip. She looked toward the frosted window of the snug — the closet-like room in which her Da and Frank’s father were haggling away over The Bindings, settling her future forever. “The… Continue Reading
He loves bright, cold nights like this. I press my form tight against the shadows as a cloud of rank breath steams into the darkness. The watch-wyverns pause at the alley’s entrance and my heart drops, though I know they… Continue Reading