Someone seated at my table blurts a question while staring absently across the room, “What’s up with mister guy in a tie over there?” I look up from my plate of partially picked over food and see who they are… Continue Reading
It was just starting to get dark when I snuck out of the Pigeon Mafia concert to smoke in the parking lot. I’d been awake for thirty-six hours straight thanks to finals and I was recently off Prozac. The noise… Continue Reading
In my memory, my dad and I stand in the detached garage of that old farmhouse, the faded green one at the end of the long lane that runs past Woods Camp and the football field. The door is open,… Continue Reading
“Doin’ it myself,” Chris said, lighting a cigarette and inhaling. These are going to kill you. “Yeah?” he said, trying to pay attention to his task over the sound of distant voices. “So can drinking sodas.” Chris looked at his… Continue Reading
Stan tries to skip out of the way, but the speeding bicycle passes so close behind him that a pedal clips his ankle, hard. He stammers an apology, even though the bike-messenger is already powering off into the rain. Stan… Continue Reading
Grandma’s cell phone was full of dead people when I found it. I suppose that’s the way things work out over time, though. I’ve got one in my phone now too, although it wasn’t always like that. It started two… Continue Reading
Today, Ash Wednesday, has been declared No Smoking Day to help those giving up for Lent. There is no Mass in our little hamlet because the local priest looks after seventeen parishes. At reception I check in as a visitor… Continue Reading
My world is a gun pressed against my forehead. The pressure is committed, lethal. My reality is details: Nickel plated precision cocooned by knuckles tattooed with H A T E. A bare arm with ropey muscles writhing under tattoos and… Continue Reading
Jandwat knew he was going to copulate tonight. No matter what his wife said. “If we aren’t home for the latest holo-episode of Galactic Crime Investigators, there’ll be no mating ritual,” she said. Jandwat rolled his eyes as he set… Continue Reading
An old man named Lester lived at the same nursing home as my grandfather back in the late 1970s. I still cringe when I think of that place. The smell of stale urine dominated the bleak institution like a horrid,… Continue Reading