The washboard dirt road bumps me farther into the acreage of the desert nursery. Thickets of scrub oak form a sound barrier, dimming the roar of traffic from the highway. My breathing slows as my anger dissipates, but my face… Continue Reading
She wanted those shirts back. Except the pink one. She loathed pink now. She would never wear pink again. The others, though — made from that beautiful Italian cotton with the sateen finish, the mother-of-pearl buttons, impeccable tailoring — were… Continue Reading
Melanie cleaned the tray of blood-soaked cotton balls and used syringes. “How are you feeling today?” she asked Sizwe. “I am better, and the same. You know how it goes.” Sizwe was a cancer patient and had been in and… Continue Reading
Three days before Christmas, Mary slipped in the shower and cracked her head on the soap dish. I found her half an hour later. The water was long cold and her skin had turned purplish, like an overripe plum. Her… Continue Reading
“You seem lost, can I help you?” As she turned into the side street from Third Avenue, Laura felt disoriented. The sidewalk was crowded with people, but one concerned stranger stopped to offer assistance. She swallowed her pride and handed… Continue Reading
Christmas, 2010. My father took one last breath, gaze stretching into infinity. Stage four lung cancer, metastasized to the brain. Lesions shot through the flesh of his memories. Even to the end, holes in his mind didn’t stop his apologies… Continue Reading
The morning sun paved the hall’s hardwood floor in amber light as Adam shoved his lunch into a leather satchel. He tugged his coat off a hanger, and she gave him a kiss. “Good night,” she said. “Good night?” He… Continue Reading
Martin comes to think of these months as the summer of cancer. The diagnosis comes in June. Surgery follows on the fourth of July. Recovery. Radiation. Chemo. His strength waxes and wanes with the treatment cycles, but the disease stays… Continue Reading
“Tell me how the world ends,” Ani says. Michael shakes his head. “Some things,” he says, “it’s better not to know.” They sit across from one another, at a table in the back of a dimly-lit bar. His hands are… Continue Reading
You wished out loud to see the moon again. So I waited for night to come, then gathered you in my arms. I took you from the bed, took you from the glowing amber monitors, the oxygen tubes and IV.… Continue Reading