He spoke as soon as she reached the kitchen. “You go through the boxes on the table. Kimmie left those for you to get rid of.” “Okay, Papa.” The clean-out had begun. Her mother’s things were being sorted and awarded… Continue Reading
Show and tell at school was lame. Stamps and coins. Post cards and match book covers. Fred’s squashed frog. Even Bobby’s tarantula in a plastic cube. So I set out to find something worth talking about. I decided to collect… Continue Reading
Michelle dried her hands on her apron and took it off, while her brother Eugene remained ensconced in the living room and was probably glancing at his watch every few seconds. His fourteen-year-old son Andre was nearly an hour late.… Continue Reading
“I need to go shopping,” Rose said. Liam mumbled something as he rolled over. His sister stood beside his bed, staring at him. The nightlight in the hallway lit up her outline. At least she hadn’t turned on his light.… Continue Reading
Our winter cave is on the mountainside. Mam is there. My brother Dar and I abandon her when we move to the river lodge. We cannot leave her, I say. Dar cuffs my ears. But I see water in his… Continue Reading
Emily closed the book she had been reading to her sister Stacy. She squeezed it tightly for a forever moment before letting it go. It reassured her to think that the pages with no space between them all reinforced each… Continue Reading
Jonathan Crackers dances down our street in an old, patched jacket, singing a song that only he understands, talking to people who aren’t quite there. He’s dressed in purple from head to toe. “An eggplant,” says Jamie who lives down… Continue Reading
I gasp at the sound of my brother’s voice. Everything changed after he went missing. Dad died from grief and Mom shriveled into herself. Tommy went to law school and stayed gone, Kate ran wild with men and drugs, and… Continue Reading
My sister Kathy piles eggs onto a slice of toast and takes a bite. When she’s finished chewing, she drinks some juice, and looks over the rim of her glass at me while she does so. After she sets it… Continue Reading
That winter day my brother and I stomped through the snow for sandwiches was notable for several reasons, but for me it’s when I started to look over my shoulder, a tic I carried with me throughout my life. At… Continue Reading