I had never been to the city of K. before, having just flown in on business the other night, and so imagine my surprise at seeing my parents, waiting at a bus stop just a few blocks from my hotel. They looked older and more …
Here’s where I say, “Are you scared, man?” I say it the same way every time, and in one minute we’ll be exiting the door of the aircraft, our weapon bags partially unzipped, with a magazine slapped tightly and carefully into the chamber. Before we …
Mother tucked her ample stomach up under her navel. She rolled the flesh from just above the edge of her pubic area to directly beneath her laboriously hollowed out midriff. My tongue swabbed at its dry cavity as I watched her move out of the …
Some people excel at the arts. I excel at the table. Place mats, centerpieces, candles, tablecloths. You’d think I’d be a better homemaker, but what I do well is merely what looks well. I don’t mean to trivialize it. I can make Thanksgiving feel orange, …
They told me he died at base camp. Peacefully. But I don’t believe them. It was gruesome; it was violent. Maybe he fell thousands of feet, maybe miles. Maybe his spine cracked from the impact. Perhaps nature’s ragged sculptures of ice penetrated his lust, or …
Duke hadn’t changed any, not a bit, even though he was getting along in years. Just as efficient as ever. He passed the small folder across the desk to Larry. The contents were mostly as usual: a photograph, a brief description of the individual, the …
It was fear that held him prisoner in a flat on the thirtieth floor, and, whether he was working or sleeping, his blinds were always firmly closed against the city that seemed to surround and menace him. For years he had lived this way, placating …
The man entered the small, brightly lit café and quietly sat down in a high-backed vinyl-upholstered booth. The wire caged clock over the door drew the man’s attention. Why such an institutionalesque clock in a diner? It was 3:12 a.m. The café’s latest and only …
I had been seeing Megan for approximately five months, but I had known her my entire life. I never enjoyed our meetings. They certainly could not be categorized as something as romantic as a rendezvous or as mercantile as a transaction. Although, I was attempting …
I hold the cloudy, dark plum, heavy in anticipation, weak from its own weight and firm skin. My lips surround it, privately tasting the sweet juice. I pull back dripping, wiping my chin, and watch the orange, soft golden, brown flesh expose. The skin now …