Natalie spun in place beneath the carnival lights. “Isn’t this place great?” She narrowly dodged the other people in line. A few of the adults glared at us. “We’ve been here every day this week,” I said. “Some of us… Continue Reading
Grief is an anchor, I think. It traps you in one moment, weighing you down interminably. I think about this constantly. I am thinking of it now, when the phone rings. Mila Gurevic, it says. The number is a jumble… Continue Reading
The epiphany, that affection in my current relationship is unevenly distributed, struck me at about the I-5/405 split. I felt a shaking to the innermost part of my being although, on reflection, it could also have been that “Cammy,” as… Continue Reading
Summer had faded into fall and your heart was heavy as you planned to wrap the bees up for winter. That’s what you told me. “It feels so good to get out in the fresh air,” you said, “and listen… Continue Reading
A gnome, a really ugly one, squat of body, gnarled of face, mean of eye, strolled out from around the carton of milk and jerked the box of cereal away from Sheppard. The gnome stuck his filthy mitts into the… Continue Reading
The morning begins with thin, honeyed light streaming through the blinds and landing on the small square table by the window. It’s the kind of light that softens everything it touches, a light that forgives. The type of light people… Continue Reading
Never give up. That became the family’s mantra, even after the basement flooded with sewage for the third, fourth, fifth time. By number five, old Grandad Uchytil figured it was going to be an annual visitation, a smelly, inconvenient, unavoidable… Continue Reading
“I want something edgy,” says the client. Bloody hell. I’m a hairdresser not a miracle worker, thinks Pauline, running her hands over the bleached helmet of hair in front of her. “How do you mean?” Pauline asks, smiling professionally into… Continue Reading
The kiss was all wrong. Was it the timing? The form? We’d paired our mouths together numerous times, yet something wasn’t quite right here. My face contorts as I pull away from him. “What?” he asks as he studies my… Continue Reading
It’s the day Annie on Stakeholder Pensions retires after fifty years, having started on her fifteenth birthday. It’s a day that promises creamy cakes and cringy speeches, with Annie no doubt waiting until five-thirty before walking out for the final… Continue Reading