October 1, 2013
Cicadas
When the grandfather clock standing behind her strikes four, Hannah Strawhecker sets aside the quilt she is making for her father-in-law. Four o’clock means it’s time for his milk. The […]
October 1, 2013
Slate Mountain
The sun was a little gift from the gods, pale as a nectarine and hanging just above the treetops on a morning the weatherman on the local NPR affiliate had […]
October 1, 2013
Shame Story
Marcus first mentions that he wants to see patients in their apartment as Lydia claims the last of the golden beet slices—it’s hers, she’s been counting—in the candlelight of their […]
July 1, 2013
Refuge
I. Claire unwinds her scarf and gets to work setting up the metal detector. Her usual job is to search the backpacks while Jackson, the other school police officer, handles […]
July 1, 2013
Calliope
Now she was alone; she must take care of herself. When you must do that, then you do it and you are grown up. —Laura Ingalls Wilder, By the Shores […]
July 1, 2013
The Only Thing Missing Was the Howling of Wolves
How could my sister, crazy as they come, still coerce me into doing things that could come to no good? She had her two-year-old grandson, Wendell, in her arms, and […]
July 1, 2013
The Exaggerations
When I was fourteen, Uncle Lucas decided to take me to a bachelor party. His longtime friend Buddy Cooper was getting married. Buddy Cooper was a real-life cowboy: wore Wranglers […]
July 1, 2013
Snow Beers
Fin carried his father’s name. It was heavy and he resented the weight. After seven years of lugging it around, he went home to their cold city intending to drop […]
July 1, 2013
Deck
They met at work. Betsy was the new girl and Georgia the veteran of a year slinging drinks until the bar closed at two in the morning. For Betsy the […]
April 1, 2013
Illegitimate
Athena came on the day we buried my wife’s grandmother, the first day of summer, the first really hot day of the year. The night before, my wife and I […]
April 1, 2013
On Ohaeto Street
At the time of the robbery, Eze and Chinwe were living in the town of Elelenwo in Port Harcourt. They lived in Maewood Estates, which many people called Ehoro’s Estate, […]
April 1, 2013
Now We Will Be Happy
Tostones make no excuses. Platanos—plantains—burn in hot oil, their golden edges blackening before she remembers them. Smoke invades her nose and throat, a dark burning smell of food and melting […]