After a while, the hunger began to buzz in her ears like flies. She would sit in the back of the shop, looking out toward the wide, bright window, listening to her own death rattle come slithering closer. From somewhere beyond the bright windowpane, the scent of fresh-baked bread and caramelized sugar wafted. Traffic noise … Continue reading Mama and Mrs. Cho
Flash
Spending Days and Accruing Months
She told him a million times, "Honey if you don't ask, some other guy will." And he knew it was true. It just didn't seem this-minute-true. He thought maybe if someone else did ask that would solve his problems, and maybe if someone didn't, she would stick around. That's what loyal girls do. Stick around. … Continue reading Spending Days and Accruing Months
A Story in Dialogue
"Can you tell a story just in dialogue?" "Well, of course, what kind of question is that?--- Aren't all stories a kind of dialogue?" "When you say it like that---" "Well, think of it: stories are meant to be told--- meant to be spoken. And if you have a storyteller--" "Yes. Yes. I see now. … Continue reading A Story in Dialogue
Privileged Person Free
All Jaden wanted was a coffee. Black. No sugar. Straight caffeine-jacked, high-octane java. Jaden was one of those people. The talk to me before coffee, and I'll knock your teeth out, people. Jaden was also one of those people. The I have my favorite coffee shop, and it's everyone else's favorite coffee shop, but I … Continue reading Privileged Person Free
Remembering Summer Sunshine
Great gulps of laughter roll across the yard. They crack among the croquet balls and mallets. Whoops punctuate successful strikes. The sun slips down across the brim of the hill and a nectarine light fills the valley--- all warmth and sweet citrus summertime. It casts the players' shadows long at their feet yet leaves their … Continue reading Remembering Summer Sunshine
My Friend, David
Looking in at the window, David can see his friend Emily standing on a stool pulled up next to her grandmother's kitchen counter. David is supposed to be on his way home with the soda and chips his step-mom demanded he retrieve for her. If he didn't get back in the time she thought he … Continue reading My Friend, David
When She Wasn’t Looking
Maria knew she wasn't supposed to wander the neighborhood, but one bright and sunny spring day, while she was playing in the playhouse in her backyard, she heard a tiny "meow" mewl from the back alleyway. She thrust her head through the open playhouse window to look. On the other side of the chain link … Continue reading When She Wasn’t Looking
These Things Don’t Help
Airports are so anonymous. People crisscrossing everywhere from all over the globe in this one miniature city in this sprawling campus. Somewhere among this mill of ants are the hundred or so people you’ll spend eight— ten— twelve hours of your life with, but for now they’re grabbing an eighteen dollar burger at the burger … Continue reading These Things Don’t Help
The Looking Glass
A look of distraction passes over my friend’s face in the middle of our girls’ date at a local chain restaurant. Her brows pinch together, and her whole expression slips into distress. Alarmed, I glance over my shoulder, but see only a black clad waiter carrying a wheat-colored, napkin-covered basket of breadsticks. My friend and … Continue reading The Looking Glass
The Crash of Flight
Her spirit would rail against him at times, as if his comforting arms had become shackles. She couldn’t understand where her philosophy and his diverged. Sitting across from him at the cafe table— any cafe table, it’s no matter— a thought or fancy would flit into her mind like a little bird. She would soar … Continue reading The Crash of Flight
Seeking Prose 