“Oh, sweet child… don’t cry. I’ll lick your scars softly… nibble at them slowly… and finally eat them. Your pain is so beautiful. Hush now… hush… let me take it all away…” Even now, from time to time, so many years later, in the dead of night, I hear those […]
NO ONE EXPECTED the Auclair family to have any children at all, let alone identical twins. Nevertheless, when Samantha and Charity came into this world, their parents discovered there was only one way to tell them apart: Charity had been born blind. Her sightless eyes stared up at the ceiling
I was a Disney kid. Obviously. Heck, I even still have toys and figurines of the mouse himself lying around my room, specifically a large, stuffed plushie of Mickey. However, as I grew older, the nostalgia that had soured into curiosity led me to question what the workers did behind
They call her the queen of mischief at King City High School—a title she earned with little effort. No one matched her audacious, rule-breaking nature. Fear held everyone back, for good reason. She didn’t dread getting caught, being exposed, or facing what terrified others. The absence of fear was what
Don’t Trust the Ones Who Protect You Read More »
Lakeshia was not sure of the time; she did know that it was very late, and dark according to the window. Rain came in a steady drizzle outside. Droplets which reflected orange colored light pelted the thick glass. The hospital, unusually quiet now. Her window displayed mostly darkness, aside from
I would first like to clarify that I do not want to write this. My therapist ordered it. They said, “Revisit the wounds until they stop bleeding.” I take the aripiprazole, and I think that should be enough. But no. Now I need to drift through memory like a bilious
The Cat in the Windowsill Read More »
The month I had to spend every summer at a children’s camp was the most loathed period of the year for me. A place where children were supposed to rest, laugh, and socialize with their peers was, for me and the other wards of Clover Camp, hard labor. A tour
About one shift at Clover Camp Read More »
Jason watched the hands of the clock ticking. The hour hand was moving to nine o’clock. The hour he dreaded so much. His eyes darted around the room. In the corner his blue lava lamp cast fleeting shadows that resembled dogs, silhouettes and long-fingered hands, prancing and clawing up and
The Eyes of the Angel Read More »
Most people think of the dark when they imagine where monsters hide. They fear the shadows, the closets, the space beneath the bed where the sun doesn’t reach. They are wrong. The worst things don’t hide in the dark. They hide in the light. Specifically, they hide in the refraction.
The fallen leaves tell a story…They tell of our sacrifice, the pledge we must make for our survival…Our offerings of worship, our offerings of life…Through our planes it drove. The shrilling cool wind of the coming autumn. With its passage came a change in the trees, and the slow fall
The Fallen Leaves Tell A Story Read More »
1 This was a long-time coming writing this. Not even completely sure what you would call it, but for me it’s an explanation to what had occurred so many years ago, a record so that the events and people who were hurt won’t be forgotten. Finally, an apology. As you
The house is bigger than I expected. I knew they’d be posh, or they couldn’t afford a nanny in the first place. But they have fancy agencies for that sort of thing now; someone with this sort of money doesn’t need to advertise on a Facebook group. I fold the
1 – A Mouth to Feed December 1865 – Vettheim, Finnmark, Norway The frigid winter wind howled ferociously, driving the relentless blizzard hard against the rough wooden walls of the small house. In places, the turf of the roof had been torn away by the savage weather, exposing the birch
When I was really little, something nasty got into my blood. Daddy took me to every hospital he could, until he’d run out of money. Auntie said we should all just pray harder. Daddy said “God let my child get leukemia. I’ll take my chances with the Devil.” I’ve never
Mr. Kindly’s Pawnshop Read More »
The day began like any other as Carrie Sumter made breakfast for her husband and son. Part way through the crackling sizzle of eggs, the husband made his way into the living room and collapsed on to the couch. Carrie smiled at him, as she always tried to, but he
Uncle Carter’s Gift Read More »
There were rules in our house that no one ever had to say out loud. Don’t speak when he’s drinking.Don’t look at her when she’s disappointed.Don’t cry where anyone can hear you.Don’t be noticed. Don’t be loud. Don’t be a problem. Silence kept us alive. It was the kind of
He Said He Would Protect Me Read More »
It all started last Monday. I received a call from his basketball coach. My son, Riley, had been acting more strangely than usual. He said my son had seemed to intentionally pop two basketballs alone in the locker room. I made my son play for the church league after school.
My son can’t stop humming the same tune and it’s starting to freak me out Read More »
As a kid, it took everything I had not to paint the inside of my family’s car with a wave of vomit. My carsickness was the bane of our long road trips. We tried dozens of tricks to minimize the Jackson Pollocks I created on our car windows. Books, movies,
I Made Him Up For Company on Long Car Rides, Now He Follows Me Everywhere Read More »
I remember the events that happened to us on the 1st of October in a small Oregon town as if it were only yesterday. Zoe, our twelve-year-old daughter, was playing outside in the backyard. The leaves of the trees had started to fall, creating a blanket of yellow and brown
When Jacob Housley turned up dead, it didn’t take long for me to hear about it. Just about everyone knew everyone, back in the old town, and I was more than familiar with the Housleys. Well, I used to be, anyway. Jacob was one of my fathers closest friends–almost an
“C’mon, Jeremy! Hurry up!” I could hear Marcus whine from the other side of the bathroom door. I simply rolled my eyes, and continued to comb my hair to perfection, and apply my cologne. I opened the door and peered down at my seven year old brother, as an expression
“Jesus Christ!!!!” Penny coughed as the dust swirled up around her feet. She looked around the attic, wondering who would keep all this stuff lying around. Just within her field of view, she could see old boots, a mannequin in a faded black dress, and an old chest with several
What was lost in the fire Read More »
I grew up in the small Florida Town of Ellaville, By the time I was 5, it was 1944. Ma was a receptionist on night shifts and Pa was shipped off to the war four and a half years ago. We missed him a bunch, but being young I only
That’s what we called it. The idiot mile. We used to think it sounded cool, but the adults talked about it and hyped it up so much that we just got a bit sick of the idea, and started calling it that. I grew up in a small village, secluded
