The rhythm and movement of the truck in which they had put my cage made it difficult for me to read the headlines of the newspaper lying outside. I tried hard to concentrate and finally read it.
“Leopard spotted in …
I remember the moment, 9:00, election night, November 11, 2166. I was watching the returns coming in and was celebrating that not only had an Italian Catholic been elected President of the EU (for the first time) but also a …
I hear them grunt as they nudge each other in the dark, their leg chains clanking around in weary indifference. Long after the cicadas cease their shrill mating songs and the hellish bellows of the cats retreat into the darkness, …
Serenity Way, a sweeping Victorian, could easily pass for an historic, southern hotel if it didn’t stand on the outskirts of New York City, surrounded not by bucolic fields but by cement walkways, strip malls, and supermarkets. Built to hearken …
I turned twenty-one in a U.S. Army lookout tower, guarding nuclear warheads in Rhineland Germany, smoking hashish and cheating at poker. I’d gotten no days off in two months because the U.S. Army was short of MPs, and my squad …
Though requiring only four words, Audrey still thought there might be a way to describe herself more succinctly. She worked at it as she would a crossword, and liked the challenge of using the fewest possible, even though the ten-dollar …
I was running my fingers across the spines of Sarah’s books. They were a topographical map of her life—or, rather, the past five years—with no order to discern: thick hard cover next to chapbook, self-help next to pulp, Raymond Carver …
“Traffic wasn’t bad for once,” I trill. “You’ve got plenty of time before your flight. Shall we go in the café and grab a bite to eat? My treat.”
“OK, ta.” A flicker of surprise. Usually, I drop him and …
It was like this ceramic woman Eli had made for me when he was eight years old. He’d made her for Mother’s Day, and Tara had helped him fire her in a kiln in the art teacher neighbor’s backyard. The …
Addi had her elbows on her knees and her face in her palms.
‘Oh my days, Brye. You’re wearing one now.’
That morning, I’d bought myself a chain and slung it across my hip. This is a skater accessory: to …