Blood Knot, Part 1
I. The pungent stench of urine mixed with the sweet scent of the bus’s engine exhaust sobered a mind drowning in worries and daydreams of a full…
Seattle Nice
“You want another drink, boss?” Clyde could tell just by the way the man grinned at him from the opposite side of the bar counter that he wasn’t a…
Snowfall on Pine Ridge
Wind rattles the sheet of plastic covering the broken window. Seated at the kitchen table, Ellen looks up from the coloring book in front of her and…
Wisps
My eyes are wide open when I enter the chamber. I’ve been coming here every night for a week. Sometimes I see them right away, the wisps. Other times…
The Cabal
“I wanted you to be the first to know,” Roman had confided in me. “I’m going to kill Henry Smithers.” “Gone off your meds again, eh, Row?” I had been…
Taking a War Bride
In the summer of 1865, I sat down in a saloon in the Nebraska Territory to enjoy some whiskey and a poker game. Paintings of beautiful women were…
Panama Hat
Jack Holt rolled out of bed and threw on a pair of gray work pants, a short-sleeved sports shirt he left untucked and unbuttoned over a white…
Hurricane
Shelba and I took a trip to Mexico. We had a timeshare in Mazatlán but hadn’t been there in years, a high-rise right on the beach built by a former…
If Ghosts Could Cry
I can feel your eyes boring into me. Can’t get enough of it, can you? “Want to sit down?” I say, turning 'round. You come and stand next to me, but…
Morning Tea
He pressed the buzzer and then strained to hear dim chimes echoing at the rear of the house. From a cheap radio played the faint sounds of…
