December 6, 2018
Office #734
"Hello, what can I do for you?" He walked up to the receptionist's desk and leaned on it with one arm. "I have an appointment with Mr. James Bennett…
December 5, 2018
Show Your Work, Pattern II: Good Luck
One Wednesday afternoon, Jackson asked Arnold if he would help him move some tables on the weekend from the local used furniture store to the center…
December 3, 2018
A Feminism’s Carol, Part 1: Bill’s Ghost
I. A priest is addressing the fifty or so people gathered at a cemetery as a coffin is being lowered into the ground. "A precious soul departed our…
December 2, 2018
Self-Destruction, Part 2
VI. At the police station, a matronly female officer handed me a thin blanket, then insisted I enter a holding cell. It was freezing in that room so…
December 1, 2018
Night Buyers
The coming New Years’ holidays forced Serega to work as a night vendor at the Christmas tree market. His military pension was usually sufficient for…
November 29, 2018
Heist!
“Hey, Dean, are you ready to go?” “Yeah, Ed, I guess so.” Damn…is Dean chickening out? We’ve talked about this for weeks and he seemed all set over…
November 28, 2018
Show Your Work, Pattern I: The Ordinary World
"It is allowed on all hands that there is no known connection between the sensible quantities and the secret powers; and consequently, that the mind…
November 27, 2018
The Birds and the Bees
Dad threw the knife clattering down between us on the kitchen floor. We were both already oiled down and wearing loincloths. I had a bad feeling…
November 27, 2018
Natural American Spirits
I wasn’t supposed to be having one. I said I was going to stop. No more, it’s the last one, never again. But the itch was becoming unbearable. I…
November 26, 2018
Eddie Mann’s Last Halloween
The colors let Eddie Mann know that it was Halloween. The grocery store, which was oppressively dim regardless of the season or time of day, was an…