The day was yellow and dry, the sun hanging in the sky like a drunk in a doorway. She stumbled into the liquor store, the bell on the door chocking out a tired jingle. “A bottle of vodka,” she said. Her voice was paper-thin, the kind you ball up and throw away. The shop owner—some…

I watched it all unfold from my fifth-floor hotel room, peering down onto the quiet street below. At first, I thought nothing of it—a lone old-looking woman in a wheelchair, inching her way down the sidewalk. She was slow and careful, maneuvering around a “Do Not Park” sign as if she had all the time…

Last night, the missus insisted we watch Titanic once again. That fine tale of love, loss, and financial irresponsibility that only Thurston Howell III could appreciate. The tragedy of the grand ship is one thing–the actions of our heroine, Rose, who, in the ultimate act of questionable emotional decision-making, chooses to throw away a $250…

While busy patching a fence, a thunderstorm snuck over the mountains like a midnight cattle rustler. Seeing those dark clouds rolling in, I hightailed it away from the barbed wire, hobbled my horse, and squatted down on the balls of my feet like I was using a trench latrine. Now, holding that pose is about…

The cowboy lay by the creek, his breath shallow, his body stiffening in the fading light. The sun dipped lower, turning the water to gold. That was what he wanted–wasn’t it? Gold. Westward dreams of it. He planted that dream deep and watched it grow and consume him. It burned him up until he couldn’t…

In the year of our Lord 1577, the hamlets of Bungay and Blythburgh lay wrapped in a suffocating stillness, the air taut with the charge of a storm yet to break. In both villages, the faithful crowded into their sanctuaries—stone walls meant to shelter the soul but holding the weight of unspoken sins. The Church…

Sound travels well over rocks and hard-packed earth. That’s why I could hear the guy with the dirty bike. His voice carried through the still air, taunting, “Watch him get his ass stomped by those Mustangs.” I glanced at the small herd that had formed around me. Each was a beautiful creature, coats shimmering under…

This old-age business is more troublesome than a rash on a summer day. Yesterday, I made a startling discovery: I need not lift a finger to upset the balance of my body’s delicate sensibilities. No, all it takes now is the audacity to exist. As per the usual routine, I did my best impersonation of…

When the aliens landed in my backyard, I was midway through a nap on the sunny patch by the window. The sudden green glow pouring through my cat door was not exactly ideal. Neither was the saucer the size of a kiddie pool hovering over my begonias. “Great,” I thought, flicking my tail. “Another Tuesday…

I spent the night in the hills east of home, an exile under the sky where the landscape is disfigured and ancient and the air thick, with the weight of forgotten histories. It felt like I had wandered into the past, away from the hum of modern life, where my only companions were the ghosts…