There is a light out there. A red light in a house so far off the beaten path it\’s bruised with neglect. It should have been forgotten. Was for decades. But that hardly matters now. What does is avoiding the light. Completely. Unless you can\’t. And if you can\’t, I\’ll see you soon. I guess… Continue reading The Red Light
Nourish
I. Steam This dream is always the same, because it’s also a memory. She sits near the end of the dock, her delicate frame perched on a small black cooler, her back to him, her face to the sun. The day is brilliant, early summer light off the water nearly blinding. Charlotte isn’t fishing, but… Continue reading Nourish
His Skin
I really liked his grave. The cemetery overlooked a deep lake where birds flew all around. The little grove around the church was also perfect. It wasn\’t too thick, too wild, too sparse, or manmade. It felt and looked, well, natural and beautiful. The grounds themselves were pretty well-kept. Most of the other tombstones had… Continue reading His Skin
Monkey No Legs
Damn thing could have sat on the man’s front porch since afternoon the day before, there was no way of knowing for sure. When the days got dark early, the drinking started early and Lou didn’t see sun or sense until the next morning. So that’s when he found it. Laying on his front porch… Continue reading Monkey No Legs
A Variety of Vermin
By four o’clock, Kris is clean out of fucks to give. It’s the Friday preceding spring break. There’s no aftercare today, no other underpaid employees to push her last few kids off on. The parents either forgot or don’t care. Kris reckons she’s absolved of any obligation to keep them from running wild in the… Continue reading A Variety of Vermin
Anything for My Baby
After turning the washer dial to the heavy soil setting, she shook her head and spoke to the laundry basket at her feet. “I can’t believe this is still happening. At your age, honestly,” she said. “I know, Mama.” Behind her, a shadow shifted in the hall. She could feel him there without having to… Continue reading Anything for My Baby
The Gold Seal
Andre de Corcy cursed under his breath as the charcoal split in his hands, smudging the rubbing of the sarcophagus seal. It was his fourth copy, so the mishap was hardly surprising if still inconvenient. He needed a half a dozen in all, some to be sent back to Paris and other learning centers for… Continue reading The Gold Seal
Hell is a Stage
The angry roar of heavy metal screamed from the amplifier at ear-bleeding decibels. Kip Daniels stood nearby, his fingers expertly navigating the fretboard of a blue Ibanez six-string guitar. He paused, letting the last of the grungy notes echo throughout the garage studio, his long blond hair matted to a dark sleeveless t-shirt. “Told ya… Continue reading Hell is a Stage
The Ache
Prologue It had started with the funny feeling in her belly. There was a day, not too long ago, when she was just Sheila Goolsby, and her belly didn’t ache, and she weighed not much more than Tad, her husband, who was overweight but not so much overweight as Brady Berg down the street or… Continue reading The Ache
The Sideshow of the Void
From time to time, murmurs and mutterings concerning the carnival spread amongst the houses of town like an unseen plague This signals the carnival’s imminent arrival. The carnival returns to town from the shadows of the backroads in random unknown intervals, except in certain dreams. Always presenting itself under a different name. The whispers are… Continue reading The Sideshow of the Void