Category Archives: fiction
[short] The Hallway Witch
In the room at the end of the hallway lives a witch. She moved in during the gray days of early January and she does not talk to any of the people who live around her. No one knows her … Continue reading
[snippet] Last Breath
Have you ever had the opportunity to watch someone die? If you do — when you do — there’s something you should do as it happens. Stand vigilant to the right of the dying person, with your back straight and … Continue reading
the woods behind the house (a story)
We walk on the path behind the house with its wide, wide, W I D E windows, all open, like eyes. Duck and don’t meet them. Don’t let them see you seeing. (There are hungry shadows.) (Their teeth are sharper … Continue reading
under all that cold
On Tuesday evenings they have story time. If she is very good and if the weather is not too cold (it makes her brother’s knees ache, and he cannot sit for very long that way if the snow has piled … Continue reading
warning
there is a place behind the house where the trees grow close together and their branches twist like clasping arms (if you listen to the wind you can hear voices for real, not just the pretend ones that mimic talking) … Continue reading
a love letter
In a world that is dark and quiet and built only of two people (you and me), let us bring a single spark. Let us take the knives of our words and our experiences, the trappings of our lives that … Continue reading
Online dating
So there’s this site, okay? I mean, there’s a dozen like it — eHarmony, Match.com, stuff like that — they’re all over the place these days. People are too busy or shy or socially awkward or who even knows to … Continue reading
Deep in the Water
When it is late and everyone in your household is asleep, leave and go outside. Do not put on any shoes. You will need to be able to feel the ground, where you are going. Walk as far as you … Continue reading
Elevators
On Saturday they asked to do some overtime at work, so I got up early (even though I hate doing that on weekends) and bussed down to the International District. It was early enough that most of the stores weren’t … Continue reading
wires and cords
It started when we got a new gaming system. Or I guess I should say when my roommates got one, because I don’t do much with video games; I like the computer better myself. But I was the smallest one … Continue reading
Windows 95
Inspired by this blog Once upon a time you could look up and there would be nothing but endless sky over your head. There was only the emptiness of space overhead. The whole world was one big empty place. The … Continue reading
a dragon and a king
The king is old and fat with waiting; his girth fills the whole of his throne and his belly rests on the shelf of his knees. In spite of this, his eyes are still bright and keen, set deep amidst … Continue reading
down below
There is a trapdoor in the floor of the basement. Don’t open it, the adults say, with their faces the color of weathered stone but I did and I went down down d o w n. Below I found a … Continue reading
On Thursday
On Thursday they went to war, and on Thursday they returned from war, marching shoulder to shoulder as streamers exploded from their wrappings and confetti rained down upon them like rainbow rain. There was music and cheerful chaos in the … Continue reading
A thousand roads to paradise
There are a thousand roads to Paradise, and each one is more complicated than the last. For each there are rituals to observe, steps to take, and signs to beware of, and each one claims to be as true as … Continue reading
