I woke up to the sight of my wife’s bare back, The constellation of freckles that spanned both shoulder blades under a wavy nebula of red hair. I reached over and tapped her shoulder. “Honey, it’s time,” I said. Her body stiffened and she heaved a sigh. “I...
The only proper way I can describe my childhood is that it was an afterthought for my parents. Father worked two jobs, one as a cattle hand and the other as a busboy in Sydney. Even with the good tips he made from tourists, the money...
Screw Marvin Jenkins. The luckiest bastard in the world. Let me start at the beginning. I was born and raised in Flagstaff, second-generation blue blood. I think I first held a gun at the age of five. I known my way around these parts probably even before...
I’ve never been good with people. It’s always just been easier to live my life alone, burying myself in fiction and living vicariously through the stories I read and watched. It was comforting to do that. My life could never have been as interesting as...
The far-off unfocused stare of a corpse is something that still unnerves me. Their gaze locked on to a spot somewhere out beyond the physical realm, the milky haze of the degrading cornea acting like a barrier between the living world and the endless black...
Today marks the twentieth anniversary of my father’s death, taken away by a single, senseless act. It just so happens that today is also my birthday. He’d been working late. As he often did, regardless of birthdays or holidays. I understood it was a painful memory...
Scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch “Hello?” Scratch scratch scratch scratch “Hello? Somebody? Anybody?!” Scratch scratch scratch scratch “Can anybody hear me?! Please! Please, get me out of here!” Casey stirred. He couldn’t see anything, but he could hear her loud and clear. “Dove? Is that you?” Of course it was. Her voice was...
The invasion began in 1985, or so we were told. The headlines immediately caught our attention, “Killer Bees Found on Southern Border!” These were the type of things that sparked the imagination of every child. It filled our heads with images of terrifying attacks and...
The “rustic cabin” was little more than a shack, sitting in the midst of the Louisiana bayou. All that led to it was a dirt road, and the dirt road wound off the main road for at least five miles before arriving here. Even calling...
When I was a kid, my stepfather asked me what I wanted to be when I grow up. “A magician,” I answered quickly with worldwide clarity. He huffed at that answer. “That ain’t a job, son. Wearing makeup and doing a little dance at parties ain’t...
I keep hearing them crackling; I can’t see them, but I hear them. At first, I thought it was just a distant wolf howling or my imagination playing up, but now I’m certain that they’re here — somewhere amid the trees — maybe watching me,...
“The devil doesn’t come dressed in a red cape and pointy horns. He comes as everything you’ve ever wished for.” – Tucker Max Chapter 1: The Penthouse Thomas stared out over New York from the 34th floor of Manhattan Dynamics Corporate Center, amused at how he could look...
yourfaceyourporn.mov My wife tells me she’s cheating on me about halfway through dinner. I work my way through the potatoes, the beans, and most of the meat before replying. “Who?” “That doesn’t matter.” It very much does matter, I think. I imagine a 6’4, muscular, chiseled Greek God of a man...
My husband went overseas as part of the military for a few years. The entire time I anxiously awaited his return. I constantly wondered if I would ever get a phone call notifying me that he would never come home. It was strange being alone...
In places where the very old traditions still hold, August is known as “the ghost month.” Hungry ghosts are said to roam the streets and hillsides, especially at night and especially when things are quiet. Some say that hungry ghosts are created when someone innocent...
Most children say they want to run away from home but few ever do it. My brother Joey was definitely in the latter category, using the excuse of freedom and independence to constantly break our parents’ rules. He was a dreamer, an adventurer, someone that refused...
I found out about him through a friend. I guess that’s how most people find out about him. I guess it’s sort of awful, if you think about it. It would make more sense if your worst enemy told you about him. His name is Robbie....
The carpet smells of decay and mud as I flatten my face against the floor in an attempt to hide under our queen-sized bed. An incessant banging at the door resonates through my brain, feeling like I’m being impaled with an iron spike. Each knock slams...
James was back and Shelley was happy. After all, so, so many hadn’t been lucky enough to get their husbands back. Rita Clarence lived just two houses down, and hadn’t Shelley been looking out the window right at the time that the government-issue Ford had...
From the moment she learned to walk, little Myrtle dreamed of becoming a tap dancer. She would totter through the house, her chubby bare feet slapping arrhythmically on the hardwood, her squeaky voice calling out “Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!” like tap shoes on a stage. When her second-grade teacher...
