“Is that a Wyndham flower?” Milton stared with some concern at the strange, semi-translucent stalk, ghastly pale and no bigger around than his thumb. It clung precariously to the handle of an old shovel resting in the corner of the… Continue Reading
“Make a note, Edgardo,” the Monsignor said to me on the way back to his summer residence amid the opulent gardens of the palacio above the cathedral. “The shrieks of the heretic as the flame first touches her body are… Continue Reading
Like I’m supposed to, I show up on the High Holidays and go to grad school and graciously accepted the 18th-birthday nose job from my dad who cares way more than I do that I be available and palatable for… Continue Reading
The hallway smelled of cabbage, yet Suzanne remained optimistic. Despite her heavy boots, she bounded up the stairs, clutching the slip of paper Yuri had inscribed with his address. Yuri and Irina had invited her, their first American friend, home.… Continue Reading
Jiménez watched the kids recede into the distance. It was the last house on that particular street, and a long, wooded section remained before the main road. He loved these two little rascals: after he finished tossing the contents of… Continue Reading
We were seven and nine when we first saw it. Alex was playing doctor, I was the patient, and when she shone the flashlight down my throat, she caught a glimpse of its slippery black head. She pried my jaws… Continue Reading
“We’re only here because we love you.” I come home from the grocery store to find my living room filled with family and friends. It smells like cake. But it’s not my birthday. “Sit down.” I would rather stand. In… Continue Reading
The earth was flat, and you could commit suicide without worrying about being a nuisance. You could jump right off the edge, not so much dead as gone. No one had to fish out your body. Pat’s mother knocked on… Continue Reading
I paid a lot of money to a woman who cleared things up for me. Kelsey, a counsellor. Kelsey said: “You’re misreading his gestures.” “Oh?” I asked. “How so?” “You’re thinking that when Toby gets home and he empties the… Continue Reading
They told Nico he had to go to the picnic or there would be consequences. They told him to stay home, that it wouldn’t matter whether he got the medicine. The voices followed him into the bathroom, nagging him as… Continue Reading