As she sat at her desk, pondering the screen in front of her, the spreadsheet swam. Cecily knew she was distracted, not flummoxed. She could

Delicate white petals of ash rose on a stream of smoke, mingling with glowing embers, twirling in the air. They danced off over uniform rows

           “C’mon, Zachary. What else do you have going on? Relax, I’m not trying to move back in.” Amanda spoke over her shoulder while shifting

After an absence of what seemed an odd or maybe dreamy number of years an old college chum of my wife’s came circling back into

Annie Willis, an only child, lost her widowed mother, Rose, to pancreatic cancer.   Along with the natural sadness and helplessness, Annie felt furious at

It was no ordinary beanbag. Well, actually, it was quite ordinary, which was part of the problem. It was a sturdy faded blue cloth bag,

Mementoes and awards, framed photos and letters from devoted friends of local prominence and covers of journals where my stories found a home and, resting

“Where is my number one?” called Jenny to her only child Jolene, as she unlocked the front door to the modest two-bedroom villa she rented.

I forgive him for the little lies. The little fibs that slip away and the broken promises that go unkept. He always tells the same

Amélie and I reached the foot of the hill around midday. It was lizard green, dotted with trees, bushes and cactus plants, and a sandy

One morning when I was feeding our birds in the coop, I noticed that two of our pigeons were moving as though drunk. “José, have

I. “Join the Army or go to jail”? That’s, like, still a thing judges say? Alder shrugged, finished his cigarette and tossed it into the

The familiarity of the arms of a stranger in the bar bathroom, the lip gloss passed around, the communal yell of acceptance for a forgettable

Me cleaning the house and straightening the bedroom in particular, with new sheets and all, was not a wasted effort, no matter what. And doubly

The Britisher met the Hong Kong girl in neutral territory, Japan, and wooed her the same way he would have a hundred others. “You’re like