His finger man tripped through rainbow carwash bubbles up to the second knees. Tyler bridged his other hand across his eyes and squinted at cul-de-sac baseball. He felt safer on the moss-cracked curb. The fresh stripe was tacky dry but water wet. Finger man swerved from a folded band-aid shark and climbed the slick red [...]
The pasture sloped gently before him, fruit-laden autumn branches bouncing glimpses of snow-capped peaks. He toed the soil and sat, twisting an alfalfa sprig between his fingers. Nettie, the dog-brained alpaca flopped down beside him for a rub. She was the last of the livestock and spent her days close to the farmhouse. He had [...]
¶ Agency
She lifted her arm again and selected one, darker and larger than the first. Her tongue confirmed the choice and she thought of swallowing the seed. Who taught her not to swallow the seeds? It must have been her mother, but she couldn’t remember now. She had trusted and complied, a choice removed. A paved [...]
¶ Recycled
She was absolutely normal. She grew up without a dad, but so did they. They crushed her pansies down with shoes she couldn’t name, right heels rubbed commuter raw. There was nothing to envy in those jacket-wrapped silk-satin shells. Her life was exactly what she wanted. The earth accepted her gifts, returning favors with blossoms [...]
He set his mug on the counter, picked up the empty carafe and poured a cup of nothing. Raising it to his lips, he breathed invisible steam and anticipated liquid scald. That’s when he woke up. She must have been running late. The filter drawer limped toward him begging for grounds. Maybe they were out [...]
I’m putting Grievous on hold for a while. I’ve been thinking about it and finally made the decision. It’s summer vacation and I now have two little ones at home and only small moments of time for writing. The story for Grievous is enough to fill a novel, and I’ve decided I don’t really want [...]
The sky was definitely yellow, but the time for agreement had passed. She stepped back through the sliding door, still eyeing the courtyard below. “Did you take out the recycling?” She heard the truck a few buildings down and spun to face him. He wasn’t looking. He spent more time erasing than drawing. The rubber [...]
This story was written for the Editor Unleashed Flash Fiction 40 Contest. She cradled the cracked plastic wagon like a fetal twin. An unlikely rose bush stood sentinel, wilting yellow petals onto the earth of this mobile womb. He would have made the call immediately, had he not discovered her while urinating in the alley. [...]
In frigid darkness I boarded the 2:00 AM shuttle to SeaTac airport, traveling lightly with a few outfits, my laptop and a book. I had mailed clothing and gifts and hoped they would be waiting for me at the cottage when I arrived. My mind wandered, exposing snippets of conversations from our most recent group [...]
Sometimes you find meaning as your senses absorb the world around you. Your brain clicks, tags, and files everything, pulling up distant memories and associating them with new sensations. Other times, things just float around, spots in the vitreous jelly. You notice it, chase it, but it’s always a bit ahead of you. Every once [...]