Sucker

I stood before the door to my apartment again, just staring at it. It had been months since I’d even considered looking through the little peephole, let alone opening the door and taking a walk outside. It wasn’t like I needed to leave after all; the world could come to me. Groceries could be delivered.… Continue reading Sucker

I AM THE RISE

1 Lydia Whitecliff keeps to herself in Unit 602. She’s my oldest resident. Silver haired, partial to crochet. Quiet. Not a troublesome tenant. A proud native to This City. It’s a shame how few of her kind remain.  Ron Morris, Unit 211, is a lonely bachelor who lives only for his dog. A runty, three-legged… Continue reading I AM THE RISE

The Bathroom Game

He could see it in their eyes, the way they all looked at each other, the way they all blended in together, the way they all turned back to him and grinned almost on cue. John-John didn’t like those grins.

Analyzing the Symbolism of Light and Darkness in The Others

The Others (2001) is a gothic psychological thriller that explores concepts of truth, deception, and what secrets lie beyond the ring of light we cast around ourselves. Chile-born Alejandro Amenábar wrote, directed, and scored the film, which stars Nicole Kidman, Christopher Eccleston, and Elaine Cassidy. By analyzing the movie’s lighting style, cinematic techniques, and costume… Continue reading Analyzing the Symbolism of Light and Darkness in The Others

Prisoner of the Bell Tower

That familiar melody reverberated in my head. Each clanging note echoed in my ears, bringing me back from darkness. Tong! Tong! Ting! The ringing tones could only be the sound of the church bells. Ting! Ting! Tong! I remembered hearing them before, but what was the song? I heard it so many times I could… Continue reading Prisoner of the Bell Tower

Night Market

I never text Ale because I never know where he is. It’s easier to wait and respond to his messages when he’s in town and calls me to do something. Ale chose the most adventurous path for someone with our education — working in cybersecurity for private clients — while I entrenched myself in the… Continue reading Night Market

Forks and Knives

TRIGGER WARNING: graphic depictions of violence, blood, gore. My craft is forks and knives. The art of the butcher:  The blade is part of you now. Handle smoothed by years of heat and blood, the steel kissed dull and re-sharpened a thousand times. The same weight as your hands. You learn the body by breaking… Continue reading Forks and Knives

Mary

(a pantoum) Mary dug through her sundae, unearthing sweet bits,blind to oblique police-woman glances. Indifferent— archeological zeal? Blood, where her right hand rakedher captor’s corpse.Blind to oblique police-woman glances. Indifferent to fluid crusting red to brown to black, fromher captor’s corpse,drying, as she slaked her thirst and ate her first meal.Fluid, crusting red to brown… Continue reading Mary

The Hole in My Head

There’s a grave in my pocket, a hole in my headPocket buries dreams, pride, and trust—While the hole swallows what cannot be named. I reach to remember—but then I forgetTrying triggers the shifting of colours,Spinning wheel—blurring, obscuring— What I saw, breathed, bled into the soil.It strikes between the lungs— Crimson rings my eyes—then burgundydrags mars… Continue reading The Hole in My Head