Snow drips from the tattered scarf wrapped around his face as he stands silently eager, almost not breathing. I unlock the door and push, and it becomes real: I’m bringing the homeless man from the corner into my apartment. I’ve… Continue Reading
Mason skipped down 7th Street eyes wide open, soaking in the sights and sounds. He glanced back at his parents following. His father grumbled. His mom smiled as if trying to enjoy herself even though she didn’t like football. Mason… Continue Reading
Mae now understood that the putrid smell wasn’t the low tide but was in fact her companion, Don, and that maybe she smelled just as bad. She couldn’t, after all, escape it. “Hey, shouldn’t we rent a room and take… Continue Reading
Eric walked through Baltimore’s Inner Harbor in his favorite t-shirt — blue with NAVY stamped on the front in gold block letters. Mid-morning and he was already sweating through the shirt. He wished it were a lighter color, gray or… Continue Reading
The wizard was digging through the Coopers’ trash again late Tuesday night. Jean watched from his second floor bedroom window as empty soup cans and bits of paper flew over the hunched shoulders of the cloaked, stooping figure. This was… Continue Reading
It’s been four hours and nineteen minutes since I plugged my alarm clock back in. I had already been running late and the cable man had been early for once and since life isn’t porn, I couldn’t just strip —… Continue Reading
Alb and I always call in for a pint after work on a Friday, our ritual to celebrate another week’s work. I mean nobody likes a dead end job in insurance sales but times are hard and money’s tight. I… 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
His parents named him David, but his friends on the streets of Key West called him Dougie. He was fifty-five years old but if you didn’t know that you might guess his age at seventy. He was a familiar sight… Continue Reading
Christmas Eve. I’m in my car, trying to sleep, when the sound of Karen Carpenter singing makes me sit up. I unzip my sleeping bag, wipe condensation from the windscreen and there she is, standing under a streetlight, not thirty… Continue Reading