The road didn’t change, strangely enough, the further south that she drove. Same dash lights inside the car, and same songs on the radio, she’d switch stations and cities, but the songs stayed the …

Whit had been standing in the frozen meat aisle for a few minutes before he noticed her, reflected in the glass of the freezer door he was analyzing meats through. She was large, enormous even, her…

When I’m tired enough that I think I can lay down to sleep without having any thoughts, a woman enters my mind. She’s been waiting for me, I imagine, waiting her whole life behind her dark hair, al…

Six months. Maybe a year. I thought, make up your mind. When you’re teetering on the edge, the difference between six months and twelve months really matters. Did I have the extra six months or did…

The Tsar was alive. His wife and children were alive. The story about their deaths in Yekaterinburg was fabricated by those hoping to liberate – rather than liquidate – the imperial family. Rescued…

Summer was the worst for wearing galoshes. Sweat pooled in the bottoms making every step feel like Gonzo was sloshing through a swamp. They had become an unfortunate necessity with the muck on the …

He pries out one of her eyeballs with the tip of a screwdriver and rolls it between his fingers while her good eye stares out at him. He’d expected to see some blood. Maybe if he pushes the screwdr…

The woman was awakened by the sliver of light that peeked through the crack of the window, where the tattered sheet was unable to cover. Drawing her knees closer to her chest, she shivered in the m…

Paul was running. His goal within reach, he picked up his pace, as usual, dodging any obstacles in his path. Nothing could prevent him from getting there and seeing his shadow racing alongside hi…

Stella finds herself standing in an unlit laneway. The entertainment strip, in all its tacky glory, glitters in the night a block closer to the river from where she is. It’s full to the brim …

At six a.m. he strode back and forth in the road. Across the ditch and the big front yard, he could see the lights in the kitchen. He sidled over to the next window. The candle burned on the dining…

I see my sister’s face everywhere. It’s on magazine covers, collectors’ edition stamps, and giant billboards at the side of the motorway advertising furniture deals that are out of this world. Even…

I’m assaulted by the afternoon sun as I step out of the airport and wait for a taxi. I’d forgotten how hot the European sun is at midday; can practically feel the freckles bursting across my nose. …

I know a man who has had a goldfish for seven years. In captivity, I understand, a goldfish’s life rarely stretches beyond three. So, upon learning at a dinner party the other day about this wonder…

My hands shook so badly I could barely grip the controls of my wheelchair. I had been in the lavatory trying to clean spaghetti off the front of my shirt when I heard something like firecrackers c…

“This is the place” “Yes, I remember.” Her seventy-nine-year-old eyes were large and ripply behind her thick spectacles. Her face a mass of ridges topped by a puff of grey-white hair. We walked up …

Wincing as she burnt her tongue on her coffee Charlotte set the mug down on the table and turned the page of the photo album. A bride and groom filled the pages, their smiles leaping out from their…

He stood on the screened-in front porch, shifting from foot to foot. Though it was a cool fall afternoon in the little South Dakota town, a thin runner of sweat fell down the collar of the starched…

As an adult, whose life includes experiences, I know perfectly well that there is no stack of letters idyllically accumulating beneath the threshold of my doorway. I know that there is no comfortin…

Evil 101- A few lessons from the dark side. An ongoing series on how I gave up on a normal life and settled for the world… So you are curious about evil? That’s what usually brings the atte…

He was a Gibson Girl, best seen in black and white. Joshua Rennick was born in the wrong era, lived in the wrong body, and dreamed of things already forgotten. But work only allowed one piercing pe…

“I know, I’m sorry. I won’t be as late as last time.” I said. George sighed on the other end of the line. “Sarah, I’m not complaining about that,” he said. I could picture him as he spoke, pinching…

THE SMALL HYUNDAI COUPE crept around the church parking lot. Obviously anxious, Jason Halpnuscht peered about as he drove, his head swivelling back and forth. He checked the area around the dumpste…

“Thanks for the magazine,” the gentleman said as he finished filing his nails. “Here’s a fiver for your trouble.” “Thank you.” The eyes of Robert, the businessman’s self-described concierge, lit up…

I could have killed myself, of course. I could have flung the child from the top of the tower, and flung myself after him. Then all our troubles would have ended. They told me I could live so long …

“What the hell was that?” The bartender must’ve gone for a piss because there was nobody behind the taps to answer. The asker saw his chance to steal a pint and was reaching for a free refill when …

The Room in the Other House by Kristi DeMeester I’ve counted the moments we once had over and over. Tried to hold them in my hands as if they were solid, but in the end, there is nothing except for the dark scar tracing against my palm. If I squint, it looks like a worm. […]

It could make her invisible. Untouchable. The thought came back years later like the distant melody of church bells, familiar and comforting. The moment she found the thing, she knew it was indescribable. Remote from parents, lovers and friends alik…

Welcome to the catacombs of via Altamontivecchi, the grandest and one of the most ancient in the world. I will be your guide for this special pilgrim’s tour in the English language. If you have booked in advance, you will find the number 34 stamped …

He is a good man. Remember that. He is a good man. There’s something in the bed, something that scratches your skin when you move your legs, and you whip the sheets aside, fearing an insect, or worse—a spider. Dirt, coarse and abrasive, clings to yo…