First Book of Lasts
In what order are events stored in our memories? My brain edits our days down to scrapbook snapshots: our brown legs, entwined on a...
Waiting Room
Sunlight streamed through the window and followed the old man. Five measured steps. Pivot. Five more the opposite direction. Repeat. He...
Susan’s Gone
“I can’t leave her now, she’s already gone.” Dad gets up and fiddles with the kettle. He fills it with more water, even though our cups...
Acts of Leaving
I swing the braided strap over my shoulder, inhale the leather’s musk. I am collecting, like snapshots, all the little acts of leaving...
Transplant
Franchesca leaned against the brick wall and waited for the numb feeling to take over as she let the tiny bag slip from her fingers, drop...
The Carrier
Yours is the bleakest of evenings and yes, I do know who you are. Thin-lipped, unsmiling, resting your head in your hands. You offer me...
Whirlwind
The front door slammed. Roger’s boots clomped along the floor towards me in the bedroom. The sound stopped near the bed. “Marcy, you’re...
Catalyst
Everyone stopped talking when they crossed the threshold. Each visitor peered into the long, freshly-hewn pine box that lay on the table....
Lemures
It was my sister Anja who suggested the Erie Zoo. We were on the rocks so I took my girlfriend for a lunch date. I wanted it to be...
Cloister
The bay thrashes against itself like a dying eel. It’s a warm August night, and somewhere in Pocomoke Sound, a tiny skiff is buffeted by...
High Above, the Crown of Stone
The stranger came to Karamea with two bullets, and left with only one. It was Len Carlyle he put down: some old grudge from the Māori...
Cherished
There are times to treasure, and people to treasure. “Call!” “Pair of jacks.” “Full house!” The grownups traded loud stories between...
The Hunter
“You wander around too much. Can’t sit still,” Jamie said to himself in a voice deeper than his own. “Just post up someplace, boy.” He...
The Mother
I never wanted children. He and I agreed before we got married that we weren’t going to have kids. But accidents happen — as I counted...
Gordian
I have this idea that as we go through life, we tie knots in ourselves. Knots tied loosely to allow for easy release, or tied tightly to...
