Katie’s fingers shook as she opened the chocolate box and offered the selection to Phil. It’d been a while since she’d used this test, reserved only for third dates. The final compatibility check. After a string of bad hook-ups, her… Continue Reading
A boy and a girl. You know where this is going, right? Well, first, the boy. In truth, he is not a boy at all but a man who has just entered his fortieth year, that sudden precipice of middle… Continue Reading
Robert closed his eyes to hold back an unexpected swell of tears. It had been six years since he visited Sadie here at Fletcher House. His own cowardice and regret had kept him from visiting her more often. He simply… Continue Reading
Today’s not one of my better days. I received a text from Mary saying that the divorce was final. Ours is a no-fault divorce. It was alarmingly easy to accomplish. Mary and I visited a lawyer together. He explained the… Continue Reading
His mother wore oven mitts as she wrapped him in aluminum foil for his first day of school. She placed welding goggles over his eyes and smiled down at him. “Be yourself and try to make friends, okay, Billy?” Billy… Continue Reading
Marlene came home to an empty house and a scrawled note from Stanley. “Meet me at the duck pond at 6:30.” Of course she knew which duck pond. During their nearly twenty-six years of marriage, they’d only ever visited the… Continue Reading
On a bright April morning, Paul Cromartie watched Tidying Up with Marie Kondo for the umpteenth time. He decided it would be the last. He canceled his Netflix account, unplugged his television, and placed it by the door. Someone would… Continue Reading
“It’s ruined my garden,” Cheryl complained to her sister, Barbara, while replanting what she could salvage. “This was my only spot in full sun,” she said, the two of them bent on their knees in the shadow of the phallus.… Continue Reading
We wander to the end of the beach, away from the sprawling sunbathers, and sit down on my fraying blue and white striped beach blanket. The turquoise and lilac Cornish sea rolls up the pale fluffy sand, flattening and darkening… Continue Reading
In the bath last night, he said, “Can I tell you something? Not to freak you out.” I was lying on top of him, sloshing around, so I nodded onto his chest. “I was thinking earlier that the idea of… Continue Reading