The Pilgrim’s Digress: Chapter 7

The flames roared as Amos rushed of the vehicle and ran toward the large conflagration. The intense heat seared his scarred face as he attempted to…


“Well, We Were Sitting in the Car Dreaming of Those Hot Doughnuts,” “She Threw Your Stuff in the Bin Next to Mine,” and “I Saw Him Sniffing Glue Late One Afternoon in Highbury”

Well, We Were Sitting in the Car Dreaming of Those Hot Doughnuts Well into my teens---although it may have been earlier---was probably the first time…


Midnight Garage Sale

I. Victor held his breath as he got near her frail body. He slammed an old dirty sock in his mother’s mouth, tired of all the screaming and violent…


Milites Noctes, Part 4

XIII. The climb burned the last of their gas. Hand over hand. Boots catching on rungs. Maintaining a precarious balance. 60 pounds of gear on their…


Hallowed Be Thy Name

Hal Lowed appreciated his parents' warped sense of humor. When he was four years old, he realized the Lord’s Prayer said his name. Once this fact…


Pasture Statues

Millie mooed. Cate mooed with her. The cow stared at them. Millie giggled at the old joke, a pure, authentic song. Cate giggled with her,…


The Islands Tell of It, Chapter 27: The Show Must Go On

My mind raced with fighting uncertainties invading my stress threshold. Questions of “what if” almost brought me to a tempting bout of screaming. A…


Under the Nihil, Part 1: Before the Nihil (Excerpt 2)

But you’ll have to forgive my giddy, grandiose formulations, Mr. X. They are an inevitable byproduct of my new, broadened state of mind. I realize…


The Pilgrim’s Digress: Chapter 6

The armored vehicle smashed through the thick wall like a battering ram. Chunks of reinforced concrete shot out into the air and fell on the ground…


Contagion

“The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their proper name.” This Confucian apothegm has been like a pebble in my shoe since I read the AP item…