Ghost Parachute

The boys stole. They stole sunglasses and Alfred E. Neuman tee shirts from the thrift store, a half-broke umbrella to twirl on the playground. Everyone made fun of them but what did they care? They stole malt balls from the penny candy jar at Roma Jane’s and the coin purse their teacher kept in her […]

It won’t be long before Maisie brings out that one framed photo. The one of her in her Valentine’s dress, white with a wide red sash. She holds a velvet purse that she’d borrowed from her cousin. She’d spent half an hour ratting up her hair. Made up her face before  her bath. The bouffant […]

The oven’s black mouth gapes at me, but I turn my back. I gather the ginger, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg for the gingerbread. People ride through the forest from all the nearby towns, just for my gingerbread. The knock comes at the bakery’s back door. Hansel has a little one by each hand. “No kiss […]

That she was second in everything, that she wore hand-me-downs with patched pockets, that she had to play soccer because her older sister played soccer and they already owned the cleats, that the dance was supposed to be her turn—finally—to find a dress and pay retail, that she always had to sit in the backseat […]

When Erica breaks up with him, Danny cries at the Chuck-E-Cheese table. His sister and mother knot around him. Mom massages his shoulders. Lily snaps a party hat on his head. It’s her birthday. A small pizza smolders on the table, uneaten. Erica sent the text as a dead-faced girl dropped the pie down, splashing […]

The monster hunter and I kiss so fast we don’t see the monster. We kiss before we can see each other kissing. “Is the monster blue?” I say, kissing his lips so hard that he has to see me, has to recognize the monster in me. “One of the monsters is blue,” he says, “and […]