Bug
Chkx crawled along the wood, which had been warm, but was rapidly cooling as the sun set and the shade grew. Everything was growing cooler, including Chkx herself. While she preferred cool and dark, it was becoming uncomfortably, though not yet dangerously cold at night. She sensed warmth ahead, and moisture, and kept crawling, seeking their comfort.
Kindred
The two spirits remained seated on the curb undisturbed watching the spectacle with bored expressions.
Susie
“You need to come home,” Mariah snapped, “right now! This goddamn dog wont let me get to Susie.”
‘Round Yon Virgin
Even on an ordinary day you would be fortunate to have this as part of your path home. But this is no ordinary day. This is the last Saturday before Christmas and Southgate Mall is alive with all the splendor of the season.
I Only Have Eyes for You
“The only reason they found my next-door neighbor after he died was because of the smell,” Brittany said, her voice tinged with a hint of pleasure. Her cheerleader friends leaned in closer, eager for the lurid details of Gary Newcastle’s death on Winter Street. “He had hanged himself in the garage.”
October ‘98
I had done a decent amount of travel when I was younger, moving to another state and taking a few family trips across the country. For international travel, I had even spent a day in Nogales, Mexico that made me anxious to get back to Phoenix, and an evening in Ontario, Canada, that made me not want to go home at all. But it wasn’t until I went to Wallachia, Romania in October ’98 that I really travelled outside the country for more than a few hours.
Surveilled
On the sidewalk of the family housing area on the military base, two kids played catch in the cul-de-sac, their movements unnaturally synchronized, as though staged. A teenager threw a Frisbee to a robotic dog, which leapt into the air, twisting as it caught the toy’s plastic edge. Next door, a sprinkler sprayed the evenly cut grass, making rainbows in the air. Jack Wilburn admired the scene, the early afternoon so tranquil and balanced—almost eerily perfect.
The Fishing Trip
Fishing is a great way for a father and son to catch up, just the two of them. But memories aren’t always pleasant to revisit.