Category: Fiction

If cow-face Jackie wanted to get married in the dead of winter, that was Jackie’s business, her bovine business, and there was an end. Mrs. Tom Collins allowed the leather pedicure chair to envelop her. She sat on it, sat in it,...

“You know,” I said, “We’ve been drinking since we got off the plane, and I really don’t feel that drunk.” “Same here,” Joe answered, pausing like his mouth was still waiting on his brain. “Maybe it’s this heat.” “It’s...

My letter to Santa is taking forever. I’m pretzeled on the couch, so close to the Christmas tree I can watch the tinsel dance. One quiet puff and the shaggy silver strands flutter and twinkle. Red light, blue light, green light,...

We sat in the café – it hissed with an espresso machine, chitchat and the intrigues of chess players. An elderly couple sat across from us. Gabriella whispered, “I’m leaving.” “What — are you driving home?” “I’ll sit on...

Martha had never taken an overnight train trip and wasn’t sure she’d like it. She imagined being cooped up in a hot, stuffy railroad car, like a sausage in its casing, as the train rolled past empty countryside. But...

I. “Caleb Holloway,” he said, disturbing Elvina’s meditation. She opened her eyes and considered him rude. It was obvious that she was occupied. Elvina was seated in her gun metal gray wheelchair among the pine grove on the hill...

“Your bill is ready, Mr. Biggs, but Tulip needs recovery time.” Jesse looked at the page and read $8.59.04. He blinked and looked again, $859.04, “I can pay four cents. I might even come up with four hundred cents.” Jesse had...

“Are you going to eat that?” He couldn’t believe he’d said that, then again, he could. He wasn’t exactly a prose-master, was known to lean into the occasional cliché. Plus, the last of Maryanne’s tuna melt looked pretty darn...

She was tired. Eventually, she had to say something. “Hon,” he called from the den; “Come see what I just found.” She was comfy on her couch reading a novel she’d been trying to get to for months, but he was so excited that she...

Book 6 Moths circled in the glow of the chandelier while dust sparkled on beams of light. The peaceful surroundings were deceptive: voices floated down the corridors. Digby, the head librarian, said, “Look for signs. Remove...