“My whole life was a series of fade-ins and fade-outs…” Stephen Vizinczey, In Praise of Older Women, 1966 The first time I saw Julie, she was walking onto the elevator at the gym in the financial district. We were both going up. Leaning back …
She catches me among the Penguins and the Puffins. A nondescript lady in a black jacket, a long black skirt, and a small black straw Panama hat. She stands uncomfortably close to me as I scan the discount tables. Her glasses have thick dark frames …
This was his first time going to a shopping center with just Dad. Even though the shopping center was near their home, Mam never went here. Dad said this place was good enough. It was dark, and the car park was nearly empty. The boy …
As the sun burns away the morning fog, scarred remnants of rusted keels, bleached whale ribcages, and human skulls come into focus. For centuries merciless Atlantic currents have smashed sails, masts, gunwales, and rudders against treacherous shoreline rocks. Shipwrecked European explorers, seduced by the lure …
Jerome counted twelve infants, pressing their little pink snouts against the green tinted glass of the incubator. They were identical. “Damn. I guess I’m their father.” He grunted. The incubator made a beeping noise. A nurse stepped over. “What are you doing here?” Jerome …
Christmas had followed the same routine for as long as Brianna could remember. The cherries with soft warm flesh, mince pies with a cup of tea to make their noses sweat, then grazing through a huge box of melting chocolates, their fingers sticky, …
I decided right away that I wasn’t going to be obnoxious. We’ve all seen those guys stationed at megamarts, standing behind trestle tables, cupping their hands and hawking their petitions to passersby. Last year I went shopping at Target, and one of them was right …
The process of skinning a human being is similar to that of skinning any mammal. Of course, our goal is more medicinal, and therefore, we’ll be following the certain procedure that will be most beneficial to the patient. Remember, there may be more than one …
1: I’m seated with the men. One of them is about a year into his divorce, which is not yet final, and the quick ascent—the two-month frenzy in which he was all over the place, dropped a size and felt like this is finally living, …
He had watched Jay from afar, sauntered over, sat next to him heavily, and leaned in: “Home time?” “Almost,” Jay said. The man was dressed as if for the city, for glass office blocks and boardrooms. His suit looked expensive, as did the sunglasses tucked …