I’d forgotten how much I hated small talk until we hit the interstate. Three hours into the trip I pull into a truck stop to buy Meredith a Milky Way and some headphones. My hope was that the caramel might… Continue Reading
On a bright April morning, Paul Cromartie watched Tidying Up with Marie Kondo for the umpteenth time. He decided it would be the last. He canceled his Netflix account, unplugged his television, and placed it by the door. Someone would… 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
Your lips on a ram’s horn. A new year. You explained religion as a binary, 0s and 1s. Thou shalt. Thou shalt not. At an early age, or so you told me, you decided your upbringing, centered as it was… Continue Reading
The frog’s name was Deceit. “Deceit?” I asked Ramona when I got home from work. She gave me that look. Ramona was quite the collector of exotic animals as pets, something not in evidence when we first started going out.… Continue Reading
Joel left that Friday morning right after the last croissants came out of the oven. He took a loaf of challah bread with him. It was his favorite. Marie expected her soon to be ex would be making massive slabs… Continue Reading
Jenny saw the cat on a March afternoon that was blustering full-on with a rare Texas snowstorm. She had been staring out into the blue-white dissonance beyond her apartment window, lulled by the gentle drift of the flakes. Snow came… Continue Reading
He tipped the bottle straight up over the glass and shook it. Nothing came out. Empty. After a few failed attempts to set the bottle upright, he laid it on its side and watched it roll the length of the… Continue Reading
More than even gifts, Abby Crosby loved wrapped-up boxes. Loved the anticipation. It was the same with Christmas Day. Having grown up in a large city, she enjoyed the small-town feeling in the air on the days leading up to… Continue Reading
“I’ll never understand why you have to isolate yourself on the other side of the world,” she said, smoothing dripping hair away from her face. His hands clenched in his lap, reacting with a frustration of their own at not… Continue Reading