grab and go
I wake up late, after an endless fit of rotating thoughts. I'm still thinking, thinking-but-not-thinking about a most horrific date. Marso. What a loser. Crater-faced and cocky, bragging about his polar caps and all. We weren’t even maybe two years in before I knew that it would never work. Some guys are just light years away from a clue. So Mother’s... Continue Reading →
Running sucks. Bad. Grueling miles of self-torture that I must have enjoyed in a past life. I slog through the city, past the sagging houses near the bus station and up the hills because they can’t stop me. I’m invisible to the elements, locked in my own brain. I feel the wind moving through me,... Continue Reading →
Someone once said that seeing a turtle on your wedding day would bring good luck. But like any shotgun wedding, the good luck has already been had. All that’s left is the settling up. We were down on the creek bank. Buck and Chuck and yours truly, maybe three hours before the gallows. It was... Continue Reading →
Dawn rises through a haze of tear gas, glittering off broken glass that crunches beneath our boots. The new day casts a muted warmth on last night's destruction, but the smell that lingers is sharp and acrid--a mix of rubber and plastic and things not meant to be burned. The city smolders. Everything is burning. Day... Continue Reading →
Julie paced the bamboo floors, wiggling her toes in her Toms between steps while Connie Chaplin stood in front of the television, her vodka tonic as much a part of her uniform as the linen pants and sandals. “Connie, we really need to talk.” “Relax, Jules, it’s nothing.” Relax. Julie always needed to relax. After Chase... Continue Reading →
I wash up and dry my hands, shaking my head at the guy in the mirror. Things have changed. The old mirror was oval with a dull spot on the left. And the thick wallpaper with the botanical theme is gone as well. The whole bathroom has been remodeled. It shouldn’t be surprising—it’s been over... Continue Reading →
Philo Auttenberg sometimes dreamed of cruising along the parkway in a convertible. It didn’t matter what parkway, even the make and model of the convertible wasn’t of supreme importance, just so long as the top was down and his hair was blowing in the wind. The hair. That was the bugger of the whole... Continue Reading →
“David. Please slow down. Both with the talking and the driving.” “Sorry," he says, not sorry at all. He points to the console. "Here, I brought you coffee and water. I’m like your personal hangover ambulance.” Only my brother could convince me to do whatever it is we so eagerly decided to do today. He says I... Continue Reading →
Deshaun slunk low on the bench as the evening wound to an end. Before him, the horizon squeezed the day pink over the pond. He eyed the gazebo near the exit, wondering if his friend was going to miss the show. The door opened just in time. The old man shuffled down the walk way, wheezing and heaving until... Continue Reading →
I’d love to try to help Kara, but my daughter just can’t help herself. We’ve tried everything. Moving her and Cody in with us. Paying for her to finish school. Money for clothes, job training, a car. Anything for Cody. Mary cried when I kicked her out. Didn’t speak to me for weeks afterwards. Like... Continue Reading →
Lunch Break Fiction 