It happened at midnight. I was awake, shivering in the corner of the cave, when the first contraction hit me. I hissed, dropping a hand to the curve of my stomach. It’s just a cramp, I half-begged. Instead of fading,… Continue Reading
Your boyfriend made a big show of the real-deal, intricately carved ivory lighter he got as a gift at work. And you wanted to say something about how elephants are endangered, but he was so thrilled about the novelty of… Continue Reading
Swimming his sixty daily laps in the polluted sea, the toxic sea, the radioactive phosphorescent sea, white caps curdling like cottage cheese around his head, Ira takes an inconvenient bullet in the back. The bullet pierces his new shirt and… Continue Reading
“The helplessness I felt when the bombs exploded, and mustard gas crept like ground fog into our trenches is hard to describe,” my Great-Uncle Leo said as we painted his barn red. After I dropped out of college, I became… Continue Reading
When I was nineteen, my father began to talk about dying. “You’ll be the head of the house once I’m gone,” he’d say. “Don’t let those shysters at the funeral parlour take my money. Bury me behind the chicken coop… Continue Reading
Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. —King James Bible, 1611, Matthew, 5:15. Inasmuch as the recent events surrounding the Lady Arlene (if indeed, that… Continue Reading
So, our adopted daughter Tabitha has been kidnapped, and my husband Frank and I are waiting for the call. At least we think she’s been kidnapped. Her Gucci bag, her women’s size Christian Louboutin shoes, and a favorite large diamond… Continue Reading
Every household has at least one bag of bones they try to hide under a pile of winter clothes. On the other hand, my family is so pleased with our fleshless corpse that we proudly display the skull, femur, and… Continue Reading
She had never held her head higher than when she stepped through the gilded double doors, red cape flowing behind her. Her reception at the unloading area had been warmer than she’d dreamt of in her most crazed delusions of… Continue Reading
“I’m so happy I can do this for you, daddy,” Amanda said as she approved the transaction. Ten thousand dollars was a lot of money, but it was worth it. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she thought of finally… Continue Reading