Muskie Doll Maker
byLIFE IS THE SHIT IN PEE PEE TOWNSHIP, OHIO. I nudged one nostril shut with my knuckle and snorted a fourteen-inch festoon of fire ants melting into a pineapple popsicle….
Stories
Traps
byEVERY DAY ON THE MOUNTAIN I AWAKEN TO FISH OR FORAGE, and every day at 4pm my walkie-talkie crackles with Uncle Mack’s voice ordering us down to target practice. Afternoons, I…
Mystic Pizza II
byTHERE WAS SOMETHING AWFUL ABOUT HOW THE PHONE RANG. It spoiled the oven’s hum and the patience of gathering snow. The squeak of non-slip shoe on non-slip tile. There hadn’t been…
No Matter
byWEARING A HOUSECOAT STAINED WITH BRISKET AND BORSCHT, my grandmother stands in the doorway blocking the light. She spits three times, mutters pu pu pu, mumbles a prayer. When she’s finished,…
Joy
byIT’S ANOTHER NIGHT AT THE PET STORE and I’m stocking the shelves with cat food when the new girl taps on my shoulder. She’s about half my height and is probably…
Creature
byWE FIND IT HUNCHED ON A ROOT OF A CYPRESS TREE at the edge of the bayou around eight o’clock. Dad checks the crab traps for the third time today….
Crack
byIT STARTS WITH A CRACK IN THE WALL. It is a thin line, barely visible and it runs along the molding of the staircase leading upstairs. *** They stay at…
Three Acts for Kids
byI. HE’S NOT RIDING THE BUS TO SCHOOL; he is riding in his friend’s mother’s car. His mother saw the news about the bus and the children and she said…
I see the moon and the moon sees me.
byI USED TO BELIEVE MY BODY WAS MY MIND MADE VISIBLE. Every cruel thought about another person erupted as a pimple on my face. Every greedy impulse stained my teeth….