We didn’t know the bed was cursed. It was a mahogany disaster. It took both of us to move the frame up the apartment stairs. Alyssa and I were laughing and sweaty by the time we collapsed in the bedroom.… Continue Reading
I “We get in, get the tree, get out,” says Dad. “Got it?”Football begins in less than two hours; my family is on the clock. II Marc points out that Christmas trees do not grow in Bethlehem. It would be… Continue Reading
“Another one!” Jase held a shiny blue rock in hand. “The seventh one in as many days. I have no idea what’s happening.” “That’s a lot of stones,” Margo stated. “You think? I tried to call the local wizard, but… Continue Reading
It was a dark and stormy night. Mummy Pig tucked her piglet Percy into bed and started her bedtime story: “The Three Little Pigs: Penny, Paul and Peter,” Mummy Pig smiled sweetly, as she turned the page. “All leave their… Continue Reading
I know how this will end. Even before Michael asks his question, as he toys with his hay-colored hair — “Cassandra, hey, I was wondering, um, if you’d ever like to, you know, go out?” — I know I’ll say… Continue Reading
We held our breaths as we stood in the field. A moment of agonizing silence, and then: The explosion ripped through slate skies. The Marh’uil megalith shuddered. Above, its master engine, the Chromatic Eye, teetered. The grey and grim world… Continue Reading
“Grandma, did your son die?” I gasp at my six-year-old’s innocent question to my mom. We are outside on the patio, enjoying pasta salad and barbecue, lost in mundane conversation about swimming lessons and arranging who will pick up the… Continue Reading
The man did not speak. He beckoned me to follow him with a hand sheathed in a greasy, surgical glove. I had never seen an auto mechanic wearing latex gloves so I asked him, “Is that the thing, nowadays?” I… Continue Reading
(content note: absence of a baby and obliquely implied rape of a character who might be a minor) I didn’t set out to lead a life of crime, but then again, I didn’t set out to do a lot of… Continue Reading
On the hundredth anniversary of the end of the war, the local newspaper read “Statue Unveiled of Local War Hero Archie Sutherland”. At the unveiling ceremony a draped cloth was lowered to reveal a tall, handsome soldier standing tall atop… Continue Reading