The fire had been burning for eight hours, but the earth was still not soft enough. Just as Harold predicted. It had been an unforgiving winter: sub-zero temperatures for months, ice storms, and buckets of snow. It had taken Harold… Continue Reading
After sex, instead of cuddles, Amy asked for the cat. Lulu protested that they just did this yesterday, but Amy was insistent. So Lulu went to the bathroom, crouched down on the rug, and changed. The thing about shapeshifting was… Continue Reading
November 3, 1960 Beloved Brother Alwyn, I thought you might like a photo of my new parish home at Mount St. Bernard. Leicestershire will never hold the fondness of my heart like Caldey Island. I miss the whitewashed buildings, my… Continue Reading
You’ve come here to see— To see. To see her. That’s right. Ethel. Your wife of sixty-six years. You remember her: hair that was always in rollers, an apron knotted around her waist even though she stopped baking once she… Continue Reading
A loud ding echoes across my bedroom, indicating that my client has completed the proper steps to summon me. I float across ivory-white marble columns that are inlaid with sapphires, rubies, and emeralds. With a room full of treasures of… Continue Reading
He built his first house for Sophia. The love of his life. The swan. The gliding angel whose voice was like silk. He built big, against an expansive canvas of hills and fields. A place a little way out of… Continue Reading
Doug was in the living room with his mum. “Did you come in your truck?” she asked. Doug nodded. “Wasn’t that truck a gift from a friend?” “Hugh,” said Doug. “He left it to me, eight years ago, when he… Continue Reading
He was young once, I remind myself, searching for an outline of youth beneath the sagging maroon paunches underneath his eyes. He reaches for my hand, and I make an effort to imagine away the wrinkles and tan-colored liver spots… Continue Reading
She kept coming back as a dog. Her eyes would open, her tail would wag, and she’d immediately think— Again? She returned as big dogs, small ones, fancy and mutt-like ones. Each time, each incarnation, she came back like a… Continue Reading
The door swings open, and a big, too-likable face gazes down at me. “Hi,” the twenty-something says, inviting me in and — I’m not kidding — playing host. “Want a beer? I’ve got Guinness.” A beer? Seriously? “No,” I snap.… Continue Reading