My mom gave me a little magic cocoa box for my fifth birthday, made of tin, with a snap lock to keep the cocoa safe. A year later, it still refills on its own. I drink cocoa every single day,… Continue Reading
The chair didn’t fit in the room. It didn’t match anything else. Its faded yellow upholstery was just the wrong shade to match the lighter walls. Its pink flowers, liberally scattered across the fabric, matched nothing at all. Its wooden… Continue Reading
It’s finally Friday, but it’s fucking Valentine’s Day, and I’m walking across the snow, beneath towering pine trees draped in lime-green wolf lichen, the name of which I learned yesterday, and which is now fifty percent of my knowledge of… Continue Reading
“He’s coming tonight to see you. Can you believe it?” My best friend’s green eyes bore into mine, her face so close I can see every freckle on her nose, smell the cotton candy on her breath. The delight she… Continue Reading
“But when will I see you again, Mum?” asked Dylan. “Oh, by and by, my dear. You can be sure of it.” Orla smiled fondly at her son, struggling to keep her eyes open. It was just the two of… Continue Reading
Sasha asked if I would take her trick-or-treating this year, and what could I say but of course? It would be a cruel thing to say no. It was a frigid night; I knew I should tell her to wear… Continue Reading
I opened the curtains. Charlie, in his giant recliner, flinched, as if I’d thrown a bucket of water in his face. “What’re you doing here?” “Letting in the light, bro,” I said. “It’s good to see you, too.” Charlie wore… Continue Reading
On the day my mother died I woke to rain, a rhythmic tick-tick-ticking against the windows, the first real downpour we’d had in months. I roused Oliver, crouching beside his tiny bed and tugging at the blankets, the blunt comma… Continue Reading
I’ll always remember the way his car smelled, like stale Pall Malls and Vicks VapoRub. It was memories of court-ordered, every-other-weekend visits, chicken fingers and ice cream for dinner from the Dairy Queen, and peanut butter cups baked into the… Continue Reading
It was late August, and I was still too young to attend school. I remember walking with my mother on the hillside path near our home at Dark Byte, along the rugged Labrador coastline. We were on our way for… Continue Reading