The old man’s first call from his wife was about which exact brand of peanut butter she should be getting since they no longer carried his brand. Her second call was about 10 minutes later. His ‘Hello’ got no response.… Continue Reading
You go to pay for your groceries, and your credit card is declined. It was bound to happen sooner or later, but you didn’t expect it to be today. You look at the letters dancing across the card reader’s display… Continue Reading
I forgot to have breakfast before I left. That combined with rising, overwhelming nerves about my upcoming appointment — I had a profound fear of having my eyes poked and prodded, those hulking optometry machines full of refracting lenses, deeply… 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
Working from home, Zoom meetings each afternoon, haven’t worn a pair of pants in months. Conducting all my business in a collared dress shirt and boxer shorts, from my bedroom/office. Enough to drive anyone insane. Looking for any excuse to… Continue Reading
Fuck the ugly dog. That’s what he said as they were taking him away. Somebody shouted to him as the police were leading him away, “Hey, Joe, what do we do with the Boy?” and he just leaned back over… Continue Reading
Sometimes I can’t sleep at night, or maybe I don’t want to. I don’t know, but sometimes when I don’t sleep I drive to the supermarket nearby which never closes. In the deep end of the night there are few… Continue Reading
Stickers from local hardcore bands and chewed gum are all over the rocket ship outside the Winn-Dixie. “I wanna go for a ride,” my little brother says. I had to put him in a t-shirt with the least amount of… Continue Reading
That summer I was sixteen. I had a job at a dog groomer’s. I cleaned clumps of hair out of shower drains. I brushed down show dogs. I clipped long, crescent shaped toenails, trying my hardest not to cut the… Continue Reading
It was supposed to be a quick in-and-out job. I only needed some fruit. Nothing fancy. Some bananas, some apples. Maybe grapes if they were on offer. A simple trip. Until I saw the blueberries. The ripe, purple-blue, bubbles gleamed… Continue Reading