Lank summited Esk Fell. He stood for a moment on the top to look around. But he could barely see anything. All was black smoke. There were blinking lights, like LEDs, of the conurbation below. He breathed. In. Out. His… Continue Reading
Momma homeschooled. I’d kneel in the back seat of our Buick on a carpet of fast food wrappers counting the contents of the trunk. This was Momma’s version of education, having me remind her what we had in our stolen… Continue Reading
Will steered the dresser across the lawn to the curb where his BMW was waiting. He opened the back door and sighed. Despite its decade-old rust, the Beamer was still a car designed to carry laughing women, not pieces of… Continue Reading
Mae now understood that the putrid smell wasn’t the low tide but was in fact her companion, Don, and that maybe she smelled just as bad. She couldn’t, after all, escape it. “Hey, shouldn’t we rent a room and take… Continue Reading
She liked it rough — she liked it with a rasp edging the honey in her voice. She liked to pretend that it made her songs profound, filled them with the angst so missing from her own life. But Mock… Continue Reading
Everyone is tied down to something, Nicole thought as she regarded the demon from across the greasy, downtown cafe. It was a small demon as demons go, hardly noticeable really as its needle sharp teeth sank into the crimson tendril… Continue Reading
When my daughter jumped onto my bed at 6:15 AM, she woke me from a dream that included drinking rum. My mother had also been there. Both were weird: Even in my drinking days rum was always a last resort,… Continue Reading
The room is dark, nearly black. There ‘s no electricity. The sound of sex from the next room overrides the breathy silence of bodies passed out around me. I try to keep warm, snuggling with my friend, Alicia. We share… Continue Reading
Eddie Horrigan was a ride jock for a carnival. Angela came by the carousel first night in town. She pulled at the gomer with her. “Let’s ride the merry-go-round, Delbert.” Delbert studied Eddie. “We’ll ride the Ferris Wheel.” “I want… Continue Reading
When I close my eyes, I can still see her. Before I go to bed, Alice, my cute little sister, dances behind my eyelids. When I throw my head back with a shot of vodka, Alice’s gap-toothed smile cheers me… Continue Reading