“If you could do anything in the world for your birthday — anything at all — what would you do?” My daughter, Layla, mirrors the question that I asked her last month about her birthday when I was looking for… Continue Reading
Roger would be home any second now. Eleanor made one final sweep of the house, checking that everything was perfect. Trays of finger foods arrayed on gleaming platters. Liquor and mixers lined up on the pass-through countertop. Cake four layers… Continue Reading
He always calls me on my birthday. My brother. Even though he’s been dead ten years. I wait, every year, not knowing what time of day he might call, or from what number. It’s always a different number. I imagine… Continue Reading
Dr. Alfred Dudley tapped the translator on his lapel again. “You, dreadful dirge day, tomorrow,” it said for the second time with a crackle of static. Well, he’d configured it to run an adaptive linguistics algorithm. Maybe that wasn’t even… Continue Reading
Like in a movie Jimmy raced across town to the one flower shop that didn’t close at six. He whirled around the corner and burst inside, setting off the jangling bells that hung from the door. “Man,” he said, “I’m… Continue Reading
The sunset filtered through the tree branches just above where the darkening sky touched the horizon. Pale pink and gauzy blue, the colors were so delicate Maisie could only see them if she cut her eyes to the side. Out… Continue Reading
Anna disappeared on her ninth birthday. She excused herself from her party with a polite goodbye, went up to her room, and never returned. For a time, no one noticed her absence amid the chaos of clowns, piñatas, and dozens… Continue Reading
The first storm of the summer rolled in as Karen walked home from her day job, waiting tables at the corner bar for two bucks an hour plus tips. From her right hand dangled a plastic grocery bag containing a… Continue Reading
Vandy takes an orange balloon from the box and blows it up, fastens it with a piece of string he cuts from the big ball of twine he bought along with the balloons for a good price at Wal-Mart. Then… Continue Reading