I watched the back of their feet as we all walked into the woods together. Trailing behind and looking down to watch my steps, I could see their shoes leading the way. Three sets of different colors pressing the forest floor. For some reason, despite...
Like everyone else, the pandemic had me sitting inside, bored out of my mind. My job was considered non-essential, so for a while I was just sitting on the couch watching videos or playing video games. I think what makes those activities so enjoyable, though,...
Have you ever laid awake at night, staring at the ceiling wondering what your life would be like if you had made different decisions? If you had gone left instead of right, if you had said no instead of yes. Do you wonder how big...
I was always so afraid of the dark as a kid. I used to think that there was something wrong with me, the way I would tense up when I could no longer distinguish my bedroom’s wall from the floor, when it all became a...
There’s this little flower shop on the way home from the office. At least, I thought it was a flower shop. The sign on the window says, “Granny’s Yarbs and Apothecary.” I wasn’t sure what to make of a name like that, but since the...
Mom always loved Jesus more than she loved me. She told me so herself, over and over again, when I was growing up. Every morning she would say to me, “Jimmy, you’re my only child, and I love you more than I love myself. But...
My culinary misadventures into inadvertently assisting in the summoning of what I can only assume is a demon began innocently enough. It all started just over a year ago with one of those meal box subscriptions. Learning to cook for myself after Mama died wasn’t hard,...
There’s this joke that old-time musicians used to like to tell, but maybe now it’s only popular amongst us fiddlers: Q: How do you get a banjo player off your porch? A: You pay for your pizza. It’s just a bit of good-natured humor, but I don’t think...
I am the one that the world left behind—at least until you finish reading this. It wasn’t that I was unremarkable. Everyone has something about them that is uniquely their own. It just so happened that my thing was floating through foster families, schools, and social...
I stay up later than most people, so I was still awake and playing computer games when the crash happened. Tires screeched before I heard a tremendous crunching of metal. I thought it was just a simple car accident outside until an emerald spray of...
I was skeptical when my online friends first linked me to the supposed “evil Kickstarter” that was going viral on the less-than-wholesome forums we frequented. We were an unmoderated haven for trolls, weirdos, and radicals, sure, but this Kickstarter was something else entirely. It seemed...
I drink, not because I like alcohol, but because I’ve recently seen the horrifying underbelly of the world, and I can’t go back to blissful ignorance in any other way than through the bottom of a bottle. I can’t sleep, either, so I’m writing this...
PART ONE I guess I’ll start with an introduction? My name is Brendon Spirit. Ac...
Woodard Hall was empty. All the university workers were gone for the day, but it didn’t matter whether the building was occupied or not; it always felt empty. The long corridors sprinkled with muted orange lights drained all the energy out of the building, like...
Mr. Vanhin had a wonderful day. He woke up at 5 am, said his morning prayers, and cooked himself a full breakfast, complete with fried eggs, sausages, and bacon. At 10 am, after a short nap in his favorite armchair, he grabbed his cane, put...
I hate Friday nights. Lately, I just hate them. I rolled a six this time, so I can breathe easily for another week. I turn away from the poor suckers still rolling the dice. I can't watch. The only sound in the room is the small crack...
“Sorry, new kid, but you’re last in today so you’re our candidate this year!” The kid in front of our classroom door relaying this to me looked a mixture of pity and relief, his nose taped over and a black eye, an immediate standout feature....
Our story begins, as so many do, with the approach of an oncoming storm. In the port city of Trondheim, Norway, a city regarded as the nation’s capital of knowledge, a young married couple are sitting in their living room, watching television. Their love and...
Grandpa Cobalt hated letting things go. Whether it was the wobbly chair he kept in his study or his favorite warped record he fed to the gramophone—looping the same groove over and over. He was a tall man with a frosty thin hairline and a nose capable...
I think most people are surprised when they learn one of my hobbies is taxidermy. I know what you probably expect when you hear that – some shady-looking Ed Gein kind of guy. I’m going to clear this up off the bat. Not everyone that practices...
