Asha listened to the knocker fall against her door again and flipped onto her stomach, wiping her nose on the couch cushion as she turned. She was wearing the unwashed green robe she’d been using as a housedress since November. The robe had begun to stiffen, especially at the bottoms of the damp sleeves, which … Read more
Xmas, 2005 Whew! I never seem to actually find the time to get this annual Christmas letter in the mail, but as always I have nothing but the best intentions. Every December I drag my typewriter down to the laundry room and spend a couple hours trying to get some thoughts down on paper, and … Read more
You acted all negative at breakfast, making everything heavy and chore-like. You were like this: Where is my coffee? Is there one thing on this menu that is not fried? What’s wrong with Grandma? Do people in rural America have like super strong hearts that don’t get all plugged up and clogged? Grandma is healthy … Read more
She didn’t tell me exactly what I have to wear, she just said to “dress my ass up,” Char tells Stephan. The three dust-topped round bulbs over the bathroom mirror whiten her face to stark, a finger of pewter shadows like chalk drawings under her eyes as she leans in close, paints in tiny pointillism … Read more
If I were a super villain who hurt people, what would my super villain power be?” Enzo said. At first it had been paralyzing rays that shot from her index fingers. Then it had been a third eye that traveled about her body and could shoot paralyzing rays at will. Then a secret sonic vehicle … Read more
Dear Barry 761: Of course I don’t think you are a loser because you are a DJ! Nor do I feel it was presumptuous of you to sign up for “professional singles” as opposed to just “singles.” Although throughout our eight-minute date you seemed not to actually work as a DJ anywhere and didn’t have … Read more
Gwen opened the middle drawer of her desk and saw box after box of tea jammed one next to the other. Some were decorated in pastels, others in bright reds and yellows; some featured drawings of animals or pastoral scenes, and all were frightening. Like a banner strung from the tail of an airplane, the … Read more
The sun was out and it didn’t look like it would ever rain. Sopha’s mama was coming toward them, her black umbrella up over her head. She held it high, so it looked like she was reaching up her white hand to hold onto the raggedy wing of a crow. In the other hand, bright … Read more
Cleveland #6 After all these years of wishing to be invisible, you’d think I’d feel okay when it finally came to pass. But no, I view my seeming invisibility with the same sort of distress that I had previously viewed attention: the impetus is negative and I am somehow inadequate. So while the ability to … Read more
The letters on the sign above the bakery were as willful as inanimate objects could be. Hugo and Loretta kept an attentive eye out in case the force behind the mischief chose to make itself known. It never did. They had never had any trouble with the “E” until last week. The “G” was another … Read more