Ghost Parachute

Everyone was so concerned with the counting of fingers and toes and the soft slapping of bottoms, they didn’t notice her reaction, a rush of relief at first glance, knowing everything was going to be okay. Her heart felt all the right things —love, adoration, respect — as his wrinkly purple fingers reached for her […]

Vic had his eye on a promise, a potentially fixable cool box buried underneath the junk. He was digging it up when the rain, only nagging before, began to bucket down. He rushed to the edge of the dump and found shelter in the shed where the boys often got together, especially when it poured […]

Will was born as a little friend for his mother. His scorched hometown was the site of an oil boom, and the murder capital of the country. His sisters had married and been carried off to make homes in Houston, in St. Louis, in Knoxville, Tennessee with the earnest and citrus-smelling men they’d ensnared. The […]

“Rain comes from holes in the clouds,” Dad said. “Don’t be annoyed with it. Respect it,” he said. I tried to think about holes in the clouds, like mouseholes or else, moth holes in my sweaters. My sweaters were full of mysterious little rips these days. We were driving to my dance lesson and I […]

Your son zips from room to room gathering his beach things. The aroma of fried bacon and sunscreen fills the small bungalow. For the umpteenth time you remind him to eat something and to take some bottled water. He’ll be out the door before you have a chance to change. When it was the three […]

The photo shows two dozen red and yellow beetles inside a dog’s mouth. A trail of ladybug-like insects thumbtacked to the roof and wedged behind the front teeth to clear down the back. Are there more lining the throat and pinned to the insides of the stomach? And what about tucked to the underside of […]