I suppose there are people in the world that are worse than Pastor Murdoch Prior. But Prior really was a bastard. Even before everything that happened, he was a bastard. My memories before Priorville are hazy with only bits and pieces sticking out, but granted, that whole...
There are two kinds of people in my town- people who loved Mara’s Sweets and Such, and people who thought Mara was the worst person in existence and that anyone that bought her baked goods were the worst. The bakery didn’t exist when I went off...
As much as James loved the hunt, the prep work that needed to be done beforehand was always a bit tedious. He had to find a door that was relatively secluded and could be easily secured, not within sight of any security cameras, and preferably...
My grandpa Chuck is a Baby Boomer, and without a doubt, the most quintessentially Boomer thing my grandpa does is maintain a ‘display room.’ It’s basically a second living room, except instead of IKEA, it’s filled with artisanal, luxury European furnishings, which no one is...
I’m sure you’ve seen the headlines by now. Seen and probably forgot about, since the news cycle has already left them behind for whatever you’re supposed to be outraged about and terrified of this week. In case you actually did forget, allow me to refresh your...
The rain was already coming down hard when Oliver Mason had gotten the call that his presence was required immediately at Avalon Asylum. He was at first quite bewildered by this since Oliver Mason was not a doctor but the proprietor of a men’s clothing...
With her sledge held under one arm Cassandra battled her way up the slope. Halfway up she paused to rest against the frost-crept trunk of a crooked birch and stood listening to her torn breathing, the soundless hush of the fields below filling up with...
I had never seen this particular island before. As far as I knew it hadn’t even been inked on any map. I hadn’t been gone too long, nor had I ventured too far; the mainland was still visible in the west. Even a half-blind invalid...
Sister Elizabeth was well versed in the books and history of her faith. She knew that the American interpretation of Hell, the lakes of fire and fields of tortured souls, was more in line with the imaginations of Milton and Dante than with the truth...
I could almost smell trouble coming. They knocked and I went to the large front window in the living room to see who it was. I must have looked like the least possible threat ever with my little five-year-old feet in bunny rabbit slippers with whiskers...
“God is in me or else is not at all.” --Wallace Stevens “Not at all,” I said, “I don’t mind doing this. In fact, I like it.” The doctor left the room. Tiny dots. A Sunday afternoon in some nameless place. Making tiny dots. You’d think X marks the spot,...
For the fourth building of Florida’s Leesburg Super-Geriatric Regional Medical Center, you have to go through a series of doors that require a badge, computerized vein recognition, and facial recognition from the security guard. An overhanging sign greets you with the words Cogito ergo sum. ...
I sat watching the girls walk by. This was my second week in Shanghai, my first time in Asia. The girls looked like they were heading to funerals. Their expressions, their clothing, their entire demeanor screamed death to me. I had come from Montréal where...
Mystery is manifold. Nothing proved that more than examining Josh Black. He seemed ordinary, but he most definitely was not. With glasses, Three Stooges Moe haircut, neighbor-hand-me-down jeans shorts, tennis shoes with more holes than shoe, and freckles like his face was splattered with blood, Josh...
Tatum had grown generous to a fault, giving away most of his fruit and vegetables to his neighbors and friends. He thought it was a way to get more acquainted with all of them. Still, Tatum’s neighbors, up and down the street, remained standoffish, keeping their...
Young Charley Tillman was a mouse in a trap. He thought the trap was a practical joke that he was playing on himself. It felt unreal the way he kept track of time. He’d been reduced to measuring the levels of darkness in spoonfuls as it...
So I found this Santa Claus card last night. It blew right into my ankle as I was walking around the downtown area of my city. The colors were faded, but not enough to where I couldn’t make out the letters and numbers. The background...
Although stress and chaos are the natural order at a hospital, few things serve to rattle doctors and nurses more than death. The cold, procedural actions undertaken before, during, and after a passing, contrast heavily with the unrestrained drama surrounding the patient and their families....
No one in the support group thought recovery would be easy. But Morrison couldn’t even get past step 1: I admit I am powerless over alcohol/drugs, and my life has become unmanageable. Unlike most in the group, no one hadn’t been court-ordered to attend. In...
Dr. Benjamin B. Forsythe was an odd scoop of orange sherbet, a cold, pasty, dour sort. His whole life had been a matter of melting into something or nothing. He’d become a successful psychiatrist over his long career. Dr. Benjamin’s office was in St. Louis,...
