The air filled with smoke, but to Texan farmer Don Murphy, it was all part of his daily routine. Unlike most men, Don lived for his workdays. Even at fifty-seven he never grew tired of the fragrant fog of burning wood, the vast blue skies, and...
When the quarantine began, I thought life couldn’t get any worse, but it only took a week of silent streets and empty lots for that to change. On the seventh night, sitting and staring across the block from the window of my apartment, I saw...
A single day added onto my sentence meant the difference between a normal jail and the unending nightmare of Pembina Prison. I was supposed to get 364 days. That was the deal. But the judge didn’t like my ‘attitude,’ whatever the hell that meant, so...
Part I Something extraordinary began happening to me this past month, and I’m not sure whether I ought to be relieved or terrified. For all I know, it’s been going on for several months, or possibly years. Hell, maybe it’s been going on my entire life,...
The sky was dark, threatening rain as Ryan got out of the car, slamming the door behind him. Uncle Selwyn’s house...
Prejudice has always required three main ingredients: One, lots of people with one or more common traits. Two, other people that don’t share those traits. Three, enough people upset over it. Silverkey Crossing has always been predominantly white like any small town of the Midwest. Said...
The sun was setting. Jane watched the glorious colors splay across the sky from where she stood in her antique shop, staring out the dusty window at the world beyond. The sunsets in Brereton, North Dakota, truly were magnificent; certainly more beautiful than anything else...
I woke up to the sight of my wife’s bare back, The constellation of freckles that spanned both shoulder blades under a wavy nebula of red hair. I reached over and tapped her shoulder. “Honey, it’s time,” I said. Her body stiffened and she heaved a sigh. “I...
When Carson first noticed the sounds in his cellar, he ascribed them to the rats. Later he began to hear the tales which were whispered by the superstitious Polish mill workers in Derby Street regarding the first occupant of the ancient house, Abigail Prinn. There...
Oh, looks like someone’s waking up a bit. That’s real good. I was getting a little worried that I might have given you a bit too much… oh, hey. No, no, no, don’t try to be sitting up. You’re far too… well, you just don’t...
The day was bright; the Las Vegas sun is blistering, making me feel blinded just being outside. The ring of the gas-station bell goes off as my eyes search feverishly for the coolers, the craving for something cold to drink overriding everything else going on around...
Scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch “Hello?” Scratch scratch scratch scratch “Hello? Somebody? Anybody?!” Scratch scratch scratch scratch “Can anybody hear me?! Please! Please, get me out of here!” Casey stirred. He couldn’t see anything, but he could hear her loud and clear. “Dove? Is that you?” Of course it was. Her voice was...
The “rustic cabin” was little more than a shack, sitting in the midst of the Louisiana bayou. All that led to it was a dirt road, and the dirt road wound off the main road for at least five miles before arriving here. Even calling...
It took me nearly three months to build this mansion of a treehouse for my daughter. It had slides and swings, windows and doors, ladders and steps. It had it all. Shit, I even insulated it and had power outlets, heating and cooling. This monstrous...
I am a chronic sleep talker. Always have been. Everyone who’s ever slept in the same house as me will tell you that. My parents, siblings, friends and especially my exes. They’re the ones who got an ear-full. It was something we’d laugh about in...
You’re probably like me, skeptical of all things unexplained. Never in my life have I believed anything that doesn’t have a logical explanation, even if it means I have to string together the most tenuous logic just to make something reasonable. This is me. Why...
Most children say they want to run away from home but few ever do it. My brother Joey was definitely in the latter category, using the excuse of freedom and independence to constantly break our parents’ rules. He was a dreamer, an adventurer, someone that refused...
I had no idea there were so many debilitating phobias. There are those that are terrified of right angles, Mexican food, the letter R, the metric system, and even a miserable few that fear Wednesdays, becoming incapacitated every hump-day. There is even a phobia of...
Have you ever looked up at the moon at night and dreamed of a better life? Maybe wished for love or simply looked for inspiration? It’s amazing, isn’t it, such a magnificent celestial body just hanging in the sky, one we’ve lived with since the...
Some said it was the moon’s glow that would hit the aged broken glass of the church’s upper lofts on certain nights. Others claimed it was merely their imagination...
