August 24, 2009 – 8:55 am
The first sign that something had gone wrong was found at the fence surrounding the property. The second came at the barn where they found the remnants of collision. The third thing that told them that things had gone wrong was found at the back door, yet another, which was third but third divided, at […]
August 23, 2009 – 11:30 am
Cruz took his girl friend, Maricela, to the top of the mountain. He watched her make coffee. She watched him put wood beside the fireplace. From the windows they watched black bears pass up and down the street, on the other side of which were other cabins like there’s. On the porch, which they felt […]
August 22, 2009 – 10:44 am
He read in the morning and at night. It was everything else in between that was difficult or strange. After the dawn and as dusk was beginning or just at the edges of these times or deeper into the day, such ambiguity, so much strangeness. Marleena sipped her wine. It was dark out, a wall […]
August 21, 2009 – 9:40 am
When the boxes of office supplies came, they found one full of black and blue scissors. For fairness, the manager decided to divide the scissors. One side of the office was given the blue scissors. The other side of the office was given the black scissors. Molly of the black side said, “But I want […]
August 20, 2009 – 9:37 am
“I think Ned’s gone a little crazy,” said Evergreen Holmes, smiling at Jimmy Williams. “I haven’t seen him in years,” Jimmy said, visiting the porch on this hot evening. From the porch they could see the lights of the stadium. “Just a little crazy,” Holmes said, drinking lemonade. “Does he still sweat a lot?” Jimmy […]
August 19, 2009 – 11:22 am
Father had been long gone from them now. As time passed, Mother grew more and more frightened of brittle things, things that broke, items that had the consistency of sand. She told the boys, It’s bones I fear most. Which intrigued them, as fear intrigued the boys. As it happened, one day, while playing in […]
August 18, 2009 – 10:06 am
They’d been called to Italy on a tour and the offer of a job. Currency, selling currency. “We have to spread ourselves,” he said. “We can always come home if it doesn’t work out.” “And living in Italy,” she said, “not much longer than a year, perhaps, could open all kinds of doors later for […]
August 17, 2009 – 10:07 am
The voice he began to hear in his head told him to do sensible things. It told him to brush his teeth, for instance, to wash the dishes. It told him to keep his files in good order, such as by last name or date. Clean the floors. Wash your car. Take out the trash. […]
August 16, 2009 – 12:10 pm
In the morning, after a night that seemed to go on forever, he went to his car with his bags and found a shape scratched on the hood in the form of a pawn, crude, icy cuts in the paint, maybe made with a key. Still, he had his ticket to Luzern, Switzerland, where his […]
August 15, 2009 – 9:49 am
The mathematician said, “I’ve forgotten all my math. It’s the worse thing I can think of to say.” The poet said, “And me, I’ve forgotten all my poems. It’s almost like a nightmare.” The mathematician and the poet went for drinks with money they’d taken from a man who wept in an abandoned room and […]
August 14, 2009 – 9:21 am
The old vampire entered the room somewhat clumsily. Immediately, he knew he was being watched, that there were cameras hidden in the room, and so he was somewhat self-effacing or self-aware. His clumsiness was therefore partly a result of and aggravated by his self-awareness or self-effacement. Because the old vampire knew he was being watched […]
August 13, 2009 – 1:00 pm
I saw John Peck on an evening trail. John Peck almost didn’t recognize me as the last time I’d encountered him he’d been on a late train going north, perhaps twenty years ago. John Peck had been a tall boy with aggressive eyebrows and a way of resting his palms on his chest when he […]
August 12, 2009 – 10:11 am
She came into the bedroom of the new house and said, “Do you hear that?” “It sounds like scratching,” he said, swinging his long legs out of bed, their new bed, for a new house. Downstairs, he put his ear to the living room wall. “It sounds like it’s coming from here,” he said. She […]
August 11, 2009 – 7:51 am
The Typhoon moved in too quickly and too late in the day for people to prepare. Some children, when asked, claim they slept through the night, heard what sounded like sand falling and calls from friends so distant they must have come from the darker pockets of dreams. As it happens, when people crept out […]
August 10, 2009 – 9:42 am
The curve of his neck reminded her of trees and how they bend in the wind. When she scratched her arm or leg, he was reminded of his fear of swarming ants. The vacant look he sometimes got on his face, which angered her at first, reminded her of her nipples after a hot shower, […]
