You ever have a song pop into your head that you just didn’t want to hear? Whatever song you’re thinking of, mine’s worse: it’s Katie’s song. Katie. Yeah, I knew her. The parts of my life where our paths cross flash before my eyes: Katie eyeballing me in class; Katie […]
1. I’m looking at myself in the mirror, not really realizing how bad I look. My skin looks extremely pale and I got dark bags under my eyes. What on earth happened to me? I’ve been leaning forward, clenching my hands around the sink. I don’t really know how long
The Revolving Door Read More »
When I was young my grandmother used to tell me stories of her youth. When I was about the age of fourteen, she told me about her and my grandfather’s time in a Polish city by the name of Bedzin. She described Bedzin as a quaint city; it had been
I sat on the bus, on my way to school. Listening to music, and paying little to no attention to the other students. At one of the stops my mind snapped back to reality. I looked towards the small house. Tommy’s house, I thought. A hand slipped through the drapes
The first thing I remember of my arrival in Ahtunowhiho, the small Native American village in the northern reaches of Minnesota, was the smell. The familiar aroma of soaked dirt permeated the air and was instantly noticeable as soon as the doors of the cramped, twelve-seater plane were opened. The
The Silence of the North Woods Read More »
The neighborhood always was a tight-knit community. The gatehouse kept out all the wrong people, and the rotation of retiree guards provided a second filter for the riff-raff. Most homes went for over half a million, but a few sold in the quarter-mil range. All of those, they were in
No Body, No Crime: A Cheery Holiday Tale Read More »
Endless. Dark. That was the road in front of me, stretching out farther than the eye could see in this inky blackness. Not a star in the sky tonight, and the moon seemed to be hiding from view as well. That was okay because I actually preferred the dark stretch-
Jake shouldn’t be outside tonight. Let alone walk through the woods by himself. But he’s just gonna drop by his friend’s house real quick to pick up his phone, which he forgot there a few days ago. How much harm can that really do? A damp, blue tinted fog silently
The inventor was frustrated. He had spent years, decades, researching the nature of time, and his work had finally come to fruition: he had invented a — theoretically — functioning time machine. With this he knew he could silence all the naysayers who had repudiated the underlying goal of his
People sometimes ask me what my first memory is. Invariably I lie, because I’m prone to avoid the explanation that comes with the truth. Maybe, from now on, if someone casually asks me “What is your first memory?” I will reach into my bag where there will be copies of
A few months ago I was busy preparing to move to a new house when I came across something from my past. I was going through my belongings, trying to figure out what to keep and what to discard, when I found an old shoebox stuffed down the back of
Metroid 2: Secret Worlds Read More »
My father grew up on an Indian reservation in South Dakota. It is a place with few trees and even fewer people, and there has been little development since the place was settled many, many years ago. The people live in clusters of nearly uniform houses that were built by
Never Answer the Door at Night Read More »
I’d never flown before. It was kind of peaceful, staring out of the little oval window to my right. It was the perfect time to think. I thought about the fight with my step father, and my mom begging me not to take this trip, siting news articles about missing
The Lewis’ moved into my home – our home I suppose, although it felt less than homely when filled with strangers – on November 16th without enough warning for me to adequately adjust to the change. The reality of the shifting number of occupied rooms hit forcefully and less than
Living With The Lewis’ Read More »
Eliza was in her bed upstairs. Mother cleaned her up. She made her look very pretty. Like sheʼs sleeping. I donʼt know why we didnʼt expect this to happen. Not because of the way she was. More because of what we did to her. My brother James and I, we
The bitter cold of night’s sharp breath covered his grey skin in goosebumps, under the glow of the pale moonlight. He drew ragged breaths that were quickly expelled from his lungs, as if the air was poisoned. Every movement was heavy and his body ached. He reminded himself this was
One of my friends is a paramedic in New York. Don’t ask me why, but it was always his dream to become one, and New York being the big and wild city that it is, he has of course seen some crazy things. He doesn’t talk about his experiences much
The N.Y. Subway Deaths Read More »
My grandmother grew up in the slums of Prohibition-era Chicago. Her family lived in a small house near the harbor, and one of her earliest memories was of a particularly hot summer when, seeking respite from the heat, she and her sister discovered a seldom-used section of boardwalk near an
I visit my mother sometimes in the home that she’s in. She’s not actually old, she’s only in her fifties. But she hasn’t been able to take care of herself since we lost my sister. It’s difficult visiting her because I have a separate family now. I was raised by
I froze; my feet became glued to the frost covered ground. My chest tightened in fear and anxiety. I could hear my heartbeat in my ears; my pulse could be felt in my fingertips. The sound of my blood rushing in my ears drowned out every other sound. It was
My first love was a pretty girl with golden hair and skin of pearl. We thought our meeting one of chance, our senses caught in that first glance, and watched our love unfurl. Our lives entwined at dizzying rate, as if our love was set by fate, and none were
A Promise of the Heart Read More »
I sent the text to my friend max, reading, “Dude, are you at school?” The bus was already a good 20 minutes late. It was late November, and it was cold. So damn cold. My eyes burned against the outside air, and each intake of breath was like swallowing razor
Hello. I’m Father Lucie and I’m a man of faith. I’m a man of the clergy and I believe in right and wrong, and nothing in between. I believe that a man’s soul is a precious thing; a fragile thing; and I’m self-employed in upholding that belief. I work in
My best friend was in Pompeii. I wasn’t, of course, or I wouldn’t be standing here staring down at a museum display titled “A BLAST FROM THE PAST!!!” A kitsch red LED volcano flickering gently in the background, flinging deep shadows across expressions of abject misery behind a velvet rope
