By Michael Rhodes It had been raining for three days. The perfectly manicured lawns were drenched, the flower beds saturated, the drains were overflowing with foaming, bubbling water. It seemed as if the weather was sad. The sky was ashen and gray, sheets of water pouring, thunder rumbling. The suburban…
By Jeremiah Bass “What’s the first thing you remember about the dream when you wake?” Dr. Fischer asked. “I remember the heat radiating off the sand,” I tell him just like I tell him every week when we talk. “Why does the heat seem important?” “It’s so intense that my…
By Jacqueline Ledoux Catherine carefully arranged the coffee, French jam, bread, chocolate truffles, triple-berry cheesecake and dessert plates on the serving tray. She momentarily glanced around the kitchen to see if she had forgotten anything. The hostess was always very meticulous when serving her guests. For herself and the family,…
By Joan Raymond Eloise held open the metal venetian blinds between her thumb and first finger. “Frank will you look at that – the O’Conner’s haven’t taken in their trash bins yet and it’s been well over thirty minutes since the garbage truck emptied them.” She snapped the blinds shut…
By Andrew Clark Dewey cracked open a bottle of water and drank deeply. “Oh, damn,” he muttered, half coughing, half spitting water down his chest and all over his dusty boots. “This water is piss-warm.” “What’d you expect, those bottles have been sittin’ out here all day,” Harris said, as…
By Eric Erickson I took pictures of the snowfall down Tenth Avenue. There was something more magnetic about the stills than of the reality. Snow falling, when you are watching it, starts out serene and lovely, then descends into a sort of foreboding, before finally leading to a completely unnerving…
By Jeannette Kirchner Crushed rock across finger tips bricks to the hand scraping across them. Broken, cracked, faded, colorless stained glass of meaningless scripture. Shame overshadows as pieces of straw fall through the roof scared flocks scattered into the sky. Scurried away from their home built from God’s former home…
By Leroy Bovee Josh slammed the door rattling the picture window over his mom’s favorite bed of daisies. Should tear all the stupid flowers up he thought. Show her! Always nag, nag, nag – nothing ever good enough. Clean his room, do the dishes, pick up his clothes, did he…
By Steve Prakope Robert held the trembling puppy in the palm of his hand. The puppy, no longer than his width of his hand, twitched with uncontrollable spasms, its head stuck to the side of its body as if looking behind for danger. Robert saw the second puppy in the…
By Alex Scarelli Thunder sounded as Claire stood from her garden and wiped the dirt off her bare knees. She took off her gloves and wiped her dewy forehead with her forearm. Her shoulders, exposed in one of her ratty tank-tops she used for her daily chores, felt tight and…