It was a cloudless, sapphire-blue sky that day. We had the camping trip planned for a month, and it took even longer than that for us to coordinate our vacations, so that we could all be there together. It was a reunion I had dreamed...
Nestled just off the Appalachian Trail, near the border of Virginia and West Virginia, where forests grew thick and pressed in on all sides, sat a small region known as Dry Branch. Barely more than a collection of campgrounds, Dry Branch rarely received visitors, save...
“Is it true? Did every cop in the precinct call in sick tonight?” I asked my friend who lives across the street from the police station. “Yeah, Wayne.” I heard him answer as I could also hear him racking his shotgun. “Can’t say I blame them,...
I met the love of my life on my lunch break. I was cramming a BLT into my mouth while leaning forward on the painted wooden bench in the park near my office. The weather was perfect. Lush green leaves were swaying in the whispering breeze,...
Tommy Ihlman was only seven years old when his parents bought the house on Tamara Lane. Though it was no mansion by any stretch of the imagination, the five-bedroom raised-ranch style home seemed like a palace compared to the one-bedroom studio apartment he and his...
A few days ago I got a text message from an unknown number reading “I got your proof.” I stared at the words for a bit, thinking it was a wrong number. Then I remembered the last time I’d spoken to Jeremy. Jeremy, my younger cousin,...
“Daddy, why is mommy so cold?” She was dead. Maurice knew that much, but why was she so cold? His father, a stout man named Gregory, was silent. Everyone knows we die. Not even children deny it. Yet knowing a fact and believing it are different....
The sky was dark, threatening rain as Ryan got out of the car, slamming the door behind him. Uncle Selwyn’s house...
I have been doing this for many years. Sure I have changed schools a couple of times, had to even move states to help with my wife’s elderly parents. But I have always viewed the kids on my bus as an extension of my family. At the...
Prejudice has always required three main ingredients: One, lots of people with one or more common traits. Two, other people that don’t share those traits. Three, enough people upset over it. Silverkey Crossing has always been predominantly white like any small town of the Midwest. Said...
The sun was setting. Jane watched the glorious colors splay across the sky from where she stood in her antique shop, staring out the dusty window at the world beyond. The sunsets in Brereton, North Dakota, truly were magnificent; certainly more beautiful than anything else...
“The throat is deep, and the mouth...
My mother and I live in a relatively small Midwest town of approximately 10,000 people. In a town this small, it’s common to run into many of the same people during your daily routine, as people tend to take the same roads and have the...
I didn’t plan on staying at a motel that night. My apartment is normally a perfectly nice, pleasant, and comfortable place to stay. Unfortunately, the notice on the door of the building said we had to make other arrangements for the next two days. Why,...
When I was growing up my family had issues with trespassers. Not something you expect to deal with when your home sits along the shores of a secluded lake hidden deep within the woods. Even more surprising when your neighbors are all members of your...
Are you unfulfilled? I want to help you. Specifically you. Yes, you, the one reading this going “Is he really talking to me?” Yes, I‘m really talking to you. I know you, I know your type. Bored, frustrated with life, seeking that thrill that’ll make you...
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...
I graduated from high school a few years back. I still live with my parents, but I’m using this time to my advantage. They’re kind enough not to charge rent and that allows me the ability to save up almost every penny I make. The...
When Carson first noticed the sounds in his cellar, he ascribed them to the rats. Later he began to hear the tales which were whispered by the superstitious Polish mill workers in Derby Street regarding the first occupant of the ancient house, Abigail Prinn. There...
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...
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