grab and go
How I got quarantined with Nadja Friess was one-part luck, one part circumstance, all parts awkward. Her parents were out of the country. My parents were out of my life. So that left the two of us, in the hills of Vermont, with a bishop, a handful of nuns, and two sleepy security guards. If... Continue Reading →
Gramps had been getting worse over the past few months. Aunt Janet called and left detailed messages. She went on about his most recent fall or scrape and the toll it was taking on Nan. She had to lug him out of bed sometimes when he got confused. Her back couldn't do it much longer.... Continue Reading →
The knocking was swift, sharp, and not entirely unexpected. Sandra Donningham opened the door to find a handsome, clean shaven man with piercing brown eyes. “Good afternoon, Ma’am. Sorry to disturb you.” Sandra smiled at the man’s precise accent. The careful consideration to pronounce syllables. She couldn’t help parroting his crisp pronunciation. “It’s no problem.... Continue Reading →
“Think about what you’re doing, Lilith.” “It’s all I’ve thought about, Mom.” “You’re throwing everything away. Everything your father and I have worked for.” “What my father has worked for. Mom, I’ve never completed a service.” “You will, darling. It will come.” Mom turned, her robe billowing as she gazed out the windows, to the... Continue Reading →
It was a crisp sunny morning as Dad drove Ali and me to school. We passed the usual sights, the abandoned warehouses, crumbling storefronts, and the shady gas station with bars over the windows and peeling beer and cigarette signs along its cinder block walls. Dad liked to pretend it was nothing, tapping on the... Continue Reading →
They called him Freddy Krueger, which, was not only mean but unoriginal. On the playground, the girls would creep up to him then go running off screaming at the top of their lungs. The boys would see him in the hallways, nudge each other, lean in close, staring at him like he was fine print.... Continue Reading →
The world is so full of life. It’s in the sky, underground, in the water and in our minds. It’s the crayfish in the creek, the morning sun caught in a silvery web, a gnat getting caught in my eye, his persistent buzzing in my ear. It's the red whelps down my legs. It’s a... Continue Reading →
The elevators at Kemper Projects were death traps, always getting stuck, shuddering on the way up, free falling to the ground. They hardly smelled better than the stairwells, and up until a few weeks ago, I never had much use for them. But all that was before Beans wanted me to join his crew. Beans... Continue Reading →
I’m at my mailbox, tearing into a letter I’ve been expecting when I turn and find Molly Martinez standing in the road like she’d been expecting it too. It’s funny but not so funny. Because I kind of blame Molly for my predicament here. I mean, if I hadn’t walked into that lab that day…if... Continue Reading →
I saw a little boy at the park. His t-shirt read, Strong Like Mom. I looked at woman who was with the boy, his mother, I presumed. She was petite, didn’t appear to have any obvious superhuman strengths. She wore a bandana on her head and my first impression was that maybe she’d been through... Continue Reading →
Lunch Break Fiction 