After the sun goes down, Mummy and I sit in the dark. I brush my hair, then my dolly’s, then mummy’s, slicing through the strands with my comb. When I hear Daddy’s key in the lock, I know it’s time… Continue Reading
“It’s left foot forward and two steps back.” Cecily looks at her feet. She’s six and a half — seven next Wednesday. Leo says you have to know your left from your right by the time you’re seven or you’ll… Continue Reading
I’ve never shot a gun, and suddenly, Quinton is pressing the grip of a long-nosed revolver into my palm. I don’t anticipate its weight. The chilly steel. We’re cousins, but I’m new to life in Parched River. I’m used to… Continue Reading
My name’s Kari Herman, and I’m not sure whether I murdered my landlord. Hopefully I did, in which case that’s an end to it. This is what happened. Mr Rasnov Alba Claud, or R. A. C. as he preferred, was… Continue Reading
I was thirteen when Daryl Harrison fell off our grain bin. Zach brought me along once to go visit him in the hospital. I remember clenching onto the plastic railing of the footboard of his bed. It all happened on… Continue Reading
One of the most notorious episodes in the Aleph Club’s history of course was the time it agreed to purchase an infinite library from a mysterious South American salesman passing through on business. “It will be just like that time… Continue Reading
Cobble. Stone. Cobble. Unmph! That’s a back. Snappy’s back. Oops. Another reason for her to send me away. “Sorry,” I begin to sing. “Careful,” Snappy snaps. Snappy’s eyes disappear behind her lids. “You don’t want to get disoriented here, Penelope.… Continue Reading
The clouds broke just before her car turned on Seppatin Drive. The Association had forbidden artificial light on the outer property, at the gates to the outside world. So, to the boy in the high window, the car seemed like… Continue Reading
Sissy had grown tired of going up and down the hill. Tired of looking at the green of the Appalachians. Tired of looking at Mr. Dixon across the street on his riding mower with his oh so flat and lovely… Continue Reading
“My husband says you’re the best trim painter in Griffin Construction. Steady hands, smooth strokes, no taping necessary.” “That’s right, Mrs. Griffin,” Gina said. The two women, with a generation between them, stood at the same height, 5′ 9″, had… Continue Reading