Summer days dozens of boys jumped off the train bridge. Their skin was pale at the beginning of summer, deep gold by the end. They shouted, laughed, shoving each other, horsing around, hurling insults and challenges. When a train came,… Continue Reading
“Are you sure it’s the defence you want to go with?” her colleagues asked her. Nina leaned against her desk, chewing on that mangled pencil that always calmed her nerves before a big case. “I think so.” “When has that… Continue Reading
A man approaches a girl. Balding, plain and pale-eyed, fifty or so. She sits alone, staled knuckles typing an essay, coffee cold, body terse. Her eyes dart back and forth, shut for a moment. Her shoulders stiffen. In broad daylight,… Continue Reading
Across the face of every freshman streaming into the lecture hall on the fall semester’s first day was the same unspoken question: “Am I in the right class?” Professor Bill Meriwether had every intention of answering that question — just… Continue Reading
AR-D6 was first on the scene, bursting through the door to find a little girl and a corpse smeared with blood. The girl looked up with a tear-streaked face and asked if mommy was okay. Her name was Tallulah, age… Continue Reading
The bastards knocked first. Of course, they knew they had us by the balls. “Backup’s still ten minutes away.” Ferguson said through clenched teeth. His jaw twitched, nearly white as his knuckles which gripped his gun. “I don’t get paid… Continue Reading
“God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December.” —J.M. Barrie The question isn’t, can she do it? She knows she can, just as that every morning her son wakes, she hopes it will be his last. Such thoughts are evil,… Continue Reading
Ignoring her burning tongue, she sipped her hot coffee. The open window of the coffee shop gave her an unobstructed view of the street. They sat there, across the street—holding hands—out in public—for the world to see, no doubt celebrating.… Continue Reading
Ted struck a match and held it up. The glow of the flame bounced off his glasses, illuminating his pointy nose. He flicked the match into the night. When its ember died out, he lit another one. Dinah tried her phone one… Continue Reading
“And this is Jim Lange signing off! See you next week on The Dating Game!” Sergeant Ted Bernard, LAPD, leaned forward. “Very entertaining, Al. So?” Al Murphy flicked a switch and the tape stopped playing. The police department black and… Continue Reading