Fiction |
“Pierogi”
“I say, my mother is currently playing the part of a cool pal — not asking too many questions — whereas once, she said of herself: grandparent TBD.”
Fiction |
“Having Spoken”
“And through my own eyes having known the clumsiness of a life bearing out, the labored O of a mouth mouthing ‘born, born, born.'”
Fiction |
“Grad School” and “The Graphic Canon”
“You write your thesis on how to tell the no-wooden-toys-no-vaccination moms at your daughter’s daycare that you work part-time at Arby’s because teaching 160 first-year college students doesn’t pay all the bills.”
Fiction |
“Quiet Street (Neighborhood Watch Meeting #131)”
“Bassists hide behind their hair. Black is all the bassist wears. The bass will reach our kids long before it sneaks into our weak, tin ears.”
Fiction |
“Solutions”
“‘What, exactly, were you doing with the knife in the pawn shop less than an hour after you left the fundraiser, if you didn’t steal it?’ the police sergeant later asked the temp …”
Fiction |
“Sham Couple”
“Nathanael’s mother isn’t dead, she’s just suffering from dementia, but her husband, Achim, is already planning her burial. To be fair, he’s planning his own, too, and even his girlfriend Julika’s …”
Fiction |
“Boats” and “Cove”
“A boat might or might not object to what you name her. And you cannot control what she calls you.”
Fiction |
“Reading the Cards”
“My ex and I had gotten high on MDMA and stumbled upon her shop. The psychic made him wait outside …”
Fiction |
“Winter” and “Forgetting”
“Of course, I am all for understanding, speculation, and commiseration — just not too soon …”
Fiction |
“Curio”
“He thought that this object must be to the cats what the crucifix in the kitchen drawer was to him.”
Fiction |
“His Odette”
“Back in his apartment after seeing Swan Lake for the ninth time, after Dzerzhinsky was toppled, Pete undressed, brushed his teeth without turning on the bathroom light, and lay on his light blue sheets.”
Fiction |
“Click”
“You know why I hunt? To fill the freezer, feed my kids. I’m a family man. And you’re going to what, mace and tase me for no reason? Put me in the hospital for no reason?”
Fiction |
“Countdown”
“I saw the fate of every person I passed on the street as clearly as the headlights of an oncoming car.”
Fiction |
“Madhouse”
“A mad plumber ran pipes in and out of walls and tuned them so the house would sing dirges as water heated and the tub filled.”
Fiction |
“The Silkworm’s Address”
“Testing the omnipotence of thought, we would turn off the heaters when it got really cold, our foreheads burning.”