The question occurred to him as he scurried into his kitchen to inventory his foodstuffs just one more time. Of all the minutes he spent at home, in his house {two fungible phrases} {or were they?}—anyway, of all the minutes spent in the physical structure …
The air was thick and wet from the rain, and the girls in their short skirts yelled at men who passed in the street and waved at them like taxi touts. This was the kind of bar where the beer was cold, the girls were …
It was another cold night, but at least it wasn’t yet raining, thought Marco. He rubbed his hands over the makeshift garbage-can fire that he fed with newspapers and empty cartons. While buses roared and taxis swerved by, Marco beheld the city’s flickering lights, its …
Looking dashing in his bowler hat, John Lennon-style round sunglasses, shark-tooth necklace and vintage polyester bowling shirt, Richard navigated the Razor kick scooter through the dense shoals of pedestrians drifting along the sidewalk. He hopped off the scooter, picking it up as he entered the …
The Last Exit: I was on the easy end of a horse costume. My pal Grant took the rear, and we cantered to the Last Exit on Brooklyn. The giant horse-head reached my waist acting as both mask and straight-jacket and descending over a …
Devu sits on the veranda floor, listening to her husband blowing a conch shell, a ritual that follows his evening prayers. He keeps the door of his puja room closed, but the sound finds a way out. She grabs a fistful of roasted mussels from …
The house cannot hold one more person. Grace and Robert live in this 3-bedroom foursquare with their four children. Robert’s mother Bridget has lived with them since she was widowed in 1931. Grace’s older brother Patrick moved in after the Crash, the same brother who …
The year was 1947. Two men sat in a diner. The first, a man mostly failing at his dreams of being an accomplished science fiction author. The second, a government-contracted epidemiologist. On most occasions while waiting for the waitress to bring their breakfasts, they took …
It was a party to which I would have declined an invitation if my wife didn’t want to go so badly. So there we were, sipping cocktails. Mine had more vermouth in it than bourbon, never a good sign. The host, Albert Teeth, commended us …
When I trip down the stairs, I go head over heels, then heels over head. I land on the newly installed hardwood floor in our entryway. As I lie with my cheek mashed against the cool walnut surface, I’m pleased to see that it gleams …