by Carol Casey The path is trodden, dusty, level.You know it will take youwhere many have gone. Step off—tangles of brambles,sometimes with blackberries,more often with little clawsthat catch on clothes and skin;and tortuous tree roots—inconvenient, sacred data unearthed—subterranean snakelets somehowsifted into snarls for feet to catch.There are stems that twine…
By Hali Morell “Can I ask you one more thing?” It’s the last three minutes of my psychic reading, and I have been saving it for last…out of both fear and denial. My hands are clenched, and I’ve stopped inhaling the fresh summer air blowing through the coffee shop. A…
by Bob Beach Shift change at the Ford plant was the usual Chinese fire drill. Second shift regulars coming off the line poured out the doors and surged into The Altered State, a boxy little bar and grill just past the parking lot. Ready to rock, they fanned out across…
by Mehrnoosh Torbatnejad The calico returns to the living room after scamper in backyard jungle, bringing with him the rustle that animals do while loitering in their owner’s home I do not turn to the familiar stir of paws inching against carpet when he enters, but I hear the swish…
by George Freek My cat creeps carefully among spring flowers, over petunias and into jonquils, around budding hyacinths, confronting rising hollyhocks. He’s seeking new adventures in his garden universe, stepping amidst this bursting life, while he, poor fellow, grows older, day by day. If he could, would he wonder why…
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…