An Accounting

She was surprised by the diamonds. Trapped baguettes in gold, they shimmered in miniature rainbows across her wrist. Nessa summed up the cost to be at least two cable or phone bills. “How did you afford it?” She slipped the bracelet off, packing it away in the velvet box to Jack’s disappointment.  “I’m reprioritizing,” he …

Smoke Bomb, Sunset, Forest Fire

Despite the car chase, the teens laughed.  They shared smartphone footage of sparks and colored smoke, bright against the tree-lined canyon, in 30-second stories. They didn’t know the flames about to crown treetops and scour every leaf, branch and hiding place on the river, leaving avalanches of ash.  Photo by Matt Howard on Unsplash

The King’s Lie

“It’s the dogs,” the King declared. From high upon his balcony, he glared at the citizens stumbling after their beloved pets, muddying the green of the Royal Park. The dumb yawps and yips of the dogs filled the sweet spring air.  The King turned his back on the scene, slamming the french doors shut. “Close …

September means shelter

The bullies swaggered in. Hidden, Lon watched, retaped his sneakers, and thought.  School meant free meals, and something to sit on. Lon would pay with new bruises from the bullies, bathroom stalls and blacktop, the shame of D’s and F’s. It was all Lon knew, so he entered, too. Photo by Feliphe Schiarolli on Unsplash

A Different Prison

I look around for the keys, patting my pockets and scanning the ground, but they’re gone; that jerk stole my keys. OK, maybe they weren’t exactly my keys-- Mahoney agreed to go on this grift with me and dropped the keys on the way to the building. I picked them up and he chickened out, …

Locked Out

If I could change one thing, it would be meeting Maxim. The locksmith, a hobbled old man with hunched shoulders and a jaunty cap, nodded in silence as I opened the door. In the late daylight, his shadow stretched into a slender top-hatted thing, spilling a dark pool, protecting me from the sunlight, killing the …

The Anti-Aging Solution

She started finding pomegranate seeds at the doorstep, and knew it was time. Last week it was watercress; the week before, red bell peppers. Frances picked up today’s new bottle of wine red seeds, then closed the apartment door. She padded stiffly into the dining nook of her studio apartment and set the shiny jar …

I Don’t

The bouquet bit Tina’s palms; the sun burned through her veil. At the altar, she remembered the lipstick stain and unfamiliar phone number, discovered in last week’s laundry. “I do,” he said, too lightly. Her mother swooned at her reply. Photo by Shardayyy Photography on Unsplash

A Fresh Take

In my defense, it was a brilliant idea at the time. The old corner store was ready for the wrecking ball, but I looked past the scuffed checkerboard linoleum, ancient green cash register and decades of old convenience store displays.  In my imagination I peeled the large butcher paper signs from the plate glass windows, …

For the Vermin

Enthroned beneath the islands, protected by labyrinths of limestone, the Tongue of the Water, Queen Lusca, breathed life throughout the surrounding ocean. A silvery 70 feet long, Lusca had the grace and smooth head of a shark, and the powerful mystery of a squid. Her confusion of tentacles reached out through the underwater corridors beneath …