Trailing behind you along the night-deserted highway above, black sky, sharp stars, below no sound cracks through the haunted hours when all day-creatures have metamorphed to silence. You before me, Orpheus leading me up the wide entrance from Hell. I terrified that this fragile moment will crack and drop me into the void, burst to … Continue reading
The Drummer Boy
At the sound of a tentative rat-tat-tat, Jessica peeled open her eyes. An emaciated drummer boy dressed in a scarlet uniform stood by the lawn chair opposite her. His gold epaulets were crumpled over his thin shoulders. His small pinched face peered from under a crimson cap. “I’m fading from neglect,” he said, in a … Continue reading
The Boy
When the house key clicked in the lock, Diane hesitated. With Tom’s departure, she had hoped that the house would be empty of both the quick and the dead. No such luck. Instead of the reassuring sight of the cluttered hallway, the long corridor appeared distended, as if viewed through the wrong end of binoculars. … Continue reading
The Seasons
Since she left her birthplace — a land of the seasons — her existence had been untethered: floating freestyle instead of settling to the comfortable rhythm nature guaranteed. The loss was not one she discussed with her family. They would have been troubled that she was not content in their new home. Her father argued proudly they were lucky … Continue reading
Rumplestiltskin
Rumplestiltskin of my soul a soul of no place of dream of never here by the skin of my flesh a singing flesh so warmly covered siding me and against Soon did I drift towards you a hazy snail into the pocket of my desire to sleep there pale with longing Take me to market, … Continue reading
Margaret the Magnificent
Margaret is nestled beside her husband, her exhausted mind whirling with images. She envisions her huge-bellied body mounted, like a golden figurehead, on an ancient galleon. She is Margaret the Magnificent, skimming across the metallic lake – hair biting her neck, sails snapping against the mast. Wallop. The heavy mast smashes her stomach hurling her … Continue reading
Winter Birds
Maria studies her family clustered around the table, hopeful not of food but of deliverance. She is stretching her arthritic limbs towards a decision—albeit not in the direction her family anticipates—but the last few inches are excruciating and perhaps the goal is unobtainable. A peacemaker and the core of a happy family all her life, … Continue reading
A Week to Dine Out On
“Surprise!”, my daughter Sally chirped, standing at my door, arms laden with flowers and nutritional offerings. I don’t appreciate surprises and when, as now, I feared the unexpected guest was coming to celebrate my social whirl, I was aghast. “Am I not to be invited in, or have I caught you with visitors?” my daughter … Continue reading
Gift Unsolicited
Whenever a muddy taped box was plopped down on our front porch, I struggled to decipher my aunt Edie’s scrawl on the custom’s form. (Under no circumstances were we allowed to open the parcel until mom got home from working as a shelf- filler at Ben’s hardware store.) I had to be content with reading … Continue reading
The Thursday Billionaires
“We’re in the money,” cried Ricky pushing past a woman at the pub door and waving a wad of papers. Galloping to the corner where the gang was meeting, he shouted gleefully, “Time to celebrate. We’re shoe-ins.” “Okay, whoa Nellie,” said Tom, always cautious. “What’s your sure winner this week.” “It’s an award, worth five … Continue reading