"What's your name, darling?" "Georgia." "Ah! Georgia like the state--- Georgia on my mind." He rolled a fat cigar around between his teeth, and the fine lines around his eyes flared like ripples on water. "You look pretty hungry, honey." "I eat." "You want something now?" He tapped the bourbon-shine bartop. "It'll blunt that cannibal … Continue reading Signs of Fate
Short Stories
It’s Not the Unknown You Should Fear
It was just a stop on the way. Rimrock, the sign said. A lookout. Ben almost drove past it, tapping the brakes so hard I had to clamp onto the grab bars and brace my feet against the floorboards. The bike brapped down through the gears in a progression of growls. We wound around a … Continue reading It’s Not the Unknown You Should Fear
Re-Entry
Wayne stands in line at the service desk of his local box store. He bounces from heel to toe as he waits and fidgets with his mask, then remembers he shouldn’t touch it and rests his hand at his side. The lone woman working the service desk chomps gum (perhaps thinking her mask hides it?) … Continue reading Re-Entry
Martian Boy
Robby unearths the small green stone from beneath a tough-packed hump of brown dirt in his backyard. When he brushes the mud from its uneven sides, it sparkles in the sun. “Alien stone,” he says, his eyes lighting up. He spends the afternoon cleaning the gem, wrapping it in wire, and suspending it from a … Continue reading Martian Boy
The Mishaps of Don and Hank
Don has a problem. He bursts into his kitchen through the raspy screen door and races over to his wall phone. (Yes, he still has one of those.) At the phone, he stops and walks back to the door, looks out, and yanks at his chin. He walks back to the phone. Don picks up … Continue reading The Mishaps of Don and Hank
Broken Memory
Every day he arrives, hooks his cane over the end of her bed, and settles into the chair beside her. He always brings her treats-- candy, flowers, cupcakes, cards written in shaky handwriting she feels obligated to recognize. Some days she sits in a chair by the window; other days her frail limbs are wrapped … Continue reading Broken Memory
The Chosen
Adam sits in the chair in the gray holding cell with his hands against his knees. He keeps his eyes closed and listens to the movements out in the hall. “Stand up,” says a distant voice. “Hands out.” Chains jangle. “Stick out your tongue… clean.” “Move forward,” another voice says. Chains jangle again. A cell … Continue reading The Chosen
Camp Unity’s Fence
Gordy-- the cranky old caretaker-- squints at the moss-covered, rickety fence that circles Camp Unity. “Eyesore,” he says, snuffing through one nostril. Three dirt-smudged and wild-haired kids stand beside him in various attitudes of attention. The tallest boy with the tamest hair studies the fence with great attention. Its boards are gray and tall-- much … Continue reading Camp Unity’s Fence
The Long Ride Home
The car wizzes to a stop alongside the road right next to an old building that looks like a railroad station. There is no railroad track in sight, though. The woods stand full-chested and thick against the building’s rear, and the road dips down into a woody hollow and then up again over the crest … Continue reading The Long Ride Home
Nighttime Terrors
Darla noticed him watching her while she was at the gas pump. Beneath the flaring blue lights of the overhang, she caught his reflection in the back window of her car as he walked behind her. Black eyes. Hat low across his forehead. He darted a look at her as he passed between the pumps. … Continue reading Nighttime Terrors
Seeking Prose 