Stella took a deep breath of crisp autumn air and thought about how little Halloween had changed in the neighborhood where she grew up. Bands of costumed children roamed the streets as the last of the natural light faded. The… Continue Reading
When I was 4 years old, my dad said, “Your grandfather is a bird.”Imagine my surprise. He pointed out our kitchen window to the dark specks in our backyard and said, “Like a crow, or a magpie.” I didn’t understand… Continue Reading
She wants a cookie, chocolate chip. But she can’t eat just one. If she starts, she’ll devour the whole box so she decides to go for a run instead and goes into the bedroom to change into her ‘running’ clothes… Continue Reading
When I was almost five, my Aunt Evelyn discovered that my birthday falls on International Talk like a Pirate Day. “ARRRRRRH,” Aunt Ev brandished a hooked hand and waited until I looked up from my cupcake. “This be the tale… Continue Reading
A brunette and her twin girls did their best to ignore me after I reached the highest point in my local California state park. I stood a few feet away from them while I tried to minimize my excessive huffing… Continue Reading
Westwood Elementary student arrested with gun at school. No injuries. Phones ding and buzz mid-meeting with the news alert. Sharp breaths and low groans ricochet around the table. Everyone turns to me. Westwood is my son Kiel’s school. Naturally, I… Continue Reading
Oscar is watching clothes in the washing machine’s round window. The rumble is a daily background white noise. He’s almost as transfixed by its turning as Tilly is by cartoons on the telly. Sometimes, I stare with him. Mostly, I… Continue Reading
Juanita eases the old woman into the rocker, its tiny nails tightly securing the branches and twigs that form its construction. The slats of the chairback shape the old woman’s spine, sitting her as straight as she’d been, so many… Continue Reading
My sister was thirteen when she died. All crooked and soft white like a dogwood flower floating on the water. I heard my mother sobbing on the phone that she had broken her neck nearly to a ninety-degree angle, a… Continue Reading
One swing of the bat and a frozen rope laced foul from the barrel of a 32-ounce bat beaned my Dad straight in the left temple, and he crumpled in my lap. It was opening day. I was ten years… Continue Reading