Seventy-seven steps from the back door of our house up to the little house. I’ve counted it enough times. Two hundred and forty-one if I walk all the way around it, letting the coke bottle sweat in my hand until Mama hollers out the window, “You get that Coke in there right now.” She don’t […]
My lakeside graveyard’s all I got. I inherited it from my Pop, like he did from his Pop, and you get that old picture. I’m king here—ruling over my quiet darlings. And I wear all the crowns: sole proprietor, groundskeeper, gravedigger.Been digging graves since I was a kid. I’ve planted hundreds of folks.Just last month […]
A letter, marked in gold and copper. At the corners, I write my name in the spidery writing she knows to be mine. I dispatch it to the nearest cobweb and watch the babies eat it whole. And then I wait.The next morning, the woman called Mother is still alive.I watch her arms carefully during […]
After your death, everyone’s so ready to move on. They offer to help me pack up your things, and then, to pack up my things. It’s only weeks and my father’s talking about cleaning out his guest room. Honey, he says, you can’t sleep in the same room where Gemma passed on. That’s how they […]
TRANSCRIPT OF VOICEMAIL BOX: Joselin Rose Clark. 329.501.1225ORIGINAL DATE: Fri, Dec 21, 2018INCIDENT NO. 056-0004584-12(DB)FILE CLASS: 50006 TRANSCRIBER: NW, #49453[Transcript Begins]08:24:19Hey Josie, it’s Henry. Just making sure you’re okay. I don’t know how bad it was for you, or if you even felt it, but I’d say that had to be at […]
The Craig’s List ad read: For Sale or Trade. Rocking chair: vintage, lightweight, sturdy, haunted. Purchaser should feel comfortable with otherworldly companionship. Ghosts attached to chair do not appear to be hostile or dangerous. No warranty. Final sale. No return. Serious inquiry only. $25. There was a photograph attached. The chair was ugly. Mud-colored roses […]
I’m not exactly sure what Larry does. I’ve worked in this office building eight years now and haven’t figured it out. Larry was here when I started and he still appears. Not all the time. Not every day. Sometimes I’ll go a week without seeing him. But he always pops back up. By the coffee […]
AGE 7 Marko raises his first banner, a red shawl, into the teasing wind and marches behind a weathered wooden float. Brass trombones and trumpets howl across a hot, dusty world. He chants as loud as his fellow celebrants: “Never slothful! Never shelter! Sunder monoliths to sloth! “Ever onward; chase sun! Mother Ceremonium!” Marko shouts […]
Only the desperate follow the trail of rumor to my grotto beneath the marketplace, hidden behind a curtain of thorny vines. Glossa is a witch, they say. An enchantress. But, eventually, they come. Purple shadows ring Siopi’s eyes when she seeks out my den. The purple might be weariness, save for the sickly yellow mottling […]
“Taylor, did you get your toys packed?” Mom was coming up the stairs. Taylor carefully fitted the last pack of Legos into the moving box. Next to him sat another box labeled “DONATE.” He avoided looking inside that one. Mom reached into it and pulled out a dirty stuffed dog with no tail. “You decided […]
