A group from St. Christopher’s School for Boys made this same pilgrimage to the Metropolitan Museum of Art every spring, marching down along Central Park in militaristic formation in their crested navy sport coats. The trip was overseen that year… Continue Reading
Near the floor,on the lowest shelf,the book waited. It called to mewith the whisper of a songthat raised my skin.I remembered only its rhythm:slow,insistent. When I showed it to my motherone afternoon at the library,she tore it from my hands.She… Continue Reading
Dane sat outside waiting for the bus. He wore dark green coveralls and a pair of plain work boots. A brown paper bag, tenuously housing his lunch, hung limply between his legs, its opening twisted and untwisted in his fists.… Continue Reading
Petey had been pitching the baseball against the house for the last hour. He kept an eye on the street, watching for his father’s car. It would be too early for him to be getting home, but his father had… Continue Reading
Isaac strikes the axe head into the stump we’re using for the beheadings. The bit stays wedged into the hardwood. He holds the wiggling carcass. It’s weird how chickens do that after they’re dead. I’m still plucking the bird he… Continue Reading
Silence dripped from the maples in the back yard, drifted down like snow, was stirred by a passing breeze and pooled around the feet of the boy, slowly climbing his ankles, trying to hang on. He shuffled his feet, trying… Continue Reading
The small soggy furry lump had lodged itself firmly in the crack between tiles. Shannon stood silently watching over it. She had recently been watching a lot of spaghetti westerns and had been struck with the idea of becoming a… Continue Reading
When I heard Mom in the hall, I scrambled away from the window, knocking over my model of the solar system. Mars’s tin foil body shot across the room, and I ran after it. But I froze when Mom rushed… Continue Reading
Cutting away the bad parts is important. Mama takes the shears and snips-snips-snips.I take a note in my head to cut close to the bone, avoid wastage, and not let the scrapsgo unused. She cuts further, gliding her knife along… Continue Reading
Lila heard a sigh on the other end of the line. “How did it happen?” her mother asked. “The usual way,” said Lila. “Lila. You know what I mean. Do you two not use protection?” “Mom. It happened.” “And you’re… Continue Reading