A cool wind ripped at Tristan’s clothes. Waves crashed on the cliff below barely drowning out the beating of his heart. The abandoned house loomed high above, back lit by the stormy sky. Its mansard roof formed a brow over… Continue Reading
With Susan it was different. Susan and Tom lived one house away from each other, and had been born only a week apart, so they had splashed in wading pools, stroked wooly bear caterpillars, picked up toads and climbed trees… 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
Sally had been marching up and down this steep hill every day since finishing work. Her route started and ended at the holy well. An ancient stone structure with a black caged roof, fronted by a cracked drinking fountain and… Continue Reading
In my defense, Mom shouldn’t have kept the Communion elements in the rumpus room. In her defense, the room wasn’t used much. As an only child, it’s hard to make a rumpus, especially when being the minister’s daughter renders you… Continue Reading
When I was sixteen it was my fantasy to get beaten up. I was sure that a blinding fist to the eye and a broken nose would trigger a release in me, in the same way I imagined jumping off… Continue Reading
(content warning: rape) I close my eyes and the quiet, black space around me is filled with you. Do you think of me too? I wonder if you do. Wonder if that night is still carved into your wrists, wriggling… Continue Reading
A lifetime ago, I smoked a Washington High School record, running the mile in 4 minutes and 23 seconds. Now, at fifty-eight, I want to run the mile again, albeit in twice that time — to prove my angina is… Continue Reading
He stares at his nude self in the bathroom mirror. He runs his fingers from his neck down his chest and over his breasts. They’re gentle, fragile, moving across his skin as if one wrong touch and he would break.… Continue Reading
“But Da, I don’t wanna this week.” “Ye have to. It’s Sunday.” “I don’t feel well.” “Don’t be daft. Yer goin, John Paul. Ye need to be there.’’ “It’s J… P,” I snapped back. John Paul is for the Pope… Continue Reading