It was like waking those first nights they brought him home, when she listened for the sound of him breathing in the bassinet. The silence panicked her. Then the relief, the breath that allowed her to stop imagining a tiny… Continue Reading
Arthur Norris went back to the shed to fetch gasoline for the mower. In the twilight the straight tracks of newly shaved grass looked like different shades of ribbons spilled from the spool. “Arthur!” he heard her calling. She was… Continue Reading
It started out with a scribble. As she dragged a blue crayon across a crumpled sheet of white paper. The messy scrawl was an abstract piece. But like all art, it was a mark from the artist — I am… Continue Reading
Joyce and I had been snapping at each other for weeks. No reason really, at least not one that was obvious. But after fifteen years together sometimes you just get into these things and you can’t get out until someone… Continue Reading
Mommy bursts through the door. I jump up from the bottom step. “You got one!” I squeal, spotting the box she’s carrying. She’s panting and shaking. She slams the door shut and slides the bolt across just as something crashes… Continue Reading
“Marie, what do you want to be when you grow up?” I ask my daughter. She’s lying on her stomach, slowly kicking her feet as if swimming through the thick carpet. Her small, blonde head is propped up by a… Continue Reading
Carol dreamt of flight. In sleep she flew past the city limits of her hometown, high above familiar schools and stores and offices. And up higher, where sky became space, became beyond, where there was room to fly, to spread… Continue Reading
Bob bent down on one knee and popped the tops on the last two cans of paint. He flipped the lids of “Royal Lavender” onto the canvas drop cloth and stared at a muddled mess of grey and white satin.… Continue Reading
Ding-Dong! Ugh, I think to myself while walking, head cocked, to the front door. I lean back for one last glimpse of the television before reaching forward and turning the knob. “Trick or treat,” the children holler before the door… Continue Reading
“And here’s the cosy breakfast room,” says the realtor. She makes an expansive sweep with her arm. The fraudulent smile on her face doesn’t falter — even when the back of her hand smacks into the wall of the cramped… Continue Reading