The hum of the television, the chatter on cellphones, the unrelenting bass beat of the music made Alex uneasy. His eyesight was going, his hips ached, but his hearing remained fine. One of the little jokes God plays on old… Continue Reading
I turn my sunken cheek onto the warm concrete and see you down the sidewalk in your fluorescent shorts and tank top, squinting at my fallen body and calculating your odds of getting back to your run. Maybe you are… Continue Reading
Ivan uses the L.A. Daily News as a placemat because his wife – rest her soul – once told him it is easier to throw out a stained newspaper than to wash a stained placemat. He prefers the obituary section;… Continue Reading
Evening sunlight leaks through curtains and blankets the floor in soft, gold light. It flows across Buddy’s fluffy blonde fur, granting him the warm summer naps he loves so much. Minutes pass and hints of purple and orange take the… Continue Reading
What was I expecting when I pulled into the driveway: a Victorian Gothic pile looming like the house behind the Bates Motel? It was a yellow ranch-style house with a tidy lawn. Nothing about its prosaic exterior suggested the Monster… Continue Reading
Back in Auburndale Elementary, Ms. Ponte was my first-grade homeroom teacher. She was so elderly she had probably crossed the Red Sea with Moses. The problem with her was she was falling apart right before my eyes. If you’ve ever… Continue Reading
Every morning, I turn on my laptop and check my emails. Very few of them are personal, mostly junk mail. I don’t bother opening them… just go down the list and delete them. But today one of them caught my… Continue Reading
Jim Oldman stood at the top of the world, watching the immense arc of the moon crest the horizon and rise into a sky that was indigo and would soon deepen to black. It was a special moon. A super… Continue Reading
Arthur Norris went back to the shed to fetch gasoline for the mower. In the twilight the straight tracks of newly shaved grass looked like different shades of ribbons spilled from the spool. “Arthur!” he heard her calling. She was… Continue Reading
You’ve come here to see— To see. To see her. That’s right. Ethel. Your wife of sixty-six years. You remember her: hair that was always in rollers, an apron knotted around her waist even though she stopped baking once she… Continue Reading