Category Archives: Fiction

Her smile was translucent, dimming—but not concealing—the rage behind her face full of perfect teeth. She had reason to be enraged. Preston Smithers had stolen her lawnmower, the same Preston Smithers who bought his daughter a brand new Porsche Carrera for her sixteenth … Continue reading →

I watched his hammer slam, over and over and over again, against the white-hot piece of iron. The metal seemed to resist the brutality. Its shape did not change; only sparks. Yet the smithy continued beating the strap of metal without mercy, as … Continue reading →

I’ve been thinking for months about writing a companion piece to The Story of Steve. Occasionally, I write a paragraph, but almost immediately discard it.  Nothing seems to work.  Today, instead of discarding what I’ve written, I’m putting it here.  Maybe that … Continue reading →

Issues of race and class had become impossible to ignore.  Public policy forbidding discrimination clearly failed, viewed as it was as an attempt to legislate morality, which clearly fell within the purview of the church—which church, of course, depended on … Continue reading →

A massive arc of water erupted from beneath the tires of an oncoming pickup, illuminated by its high beams like a huge white fan of blinding light.  Garland Gerber hated driving at night, especially on wet roads. Roads on which … Continue reading →

I didn’t tell anyone—couldn’t tell anyone—before I did it because I knew they would have stopped me, or tried to.  At the very least, they would have insisted I pick someplace closer, someplace safer, someplace reachable by more traditional means. … Continue reading →

She woke up considerably older than when she had gone to sleep. Her brother, twelve years her junior, was a fifteen year old ninth grader when she had drifted off that night. He was twenty-two when he announced his engagement, just four days before she … Continue reading →

Garmish Sly awoke with an awful, horrific headache. He recognized it as either the aftermath of, or a prelude to, an episode. It wasn’t unusual, but it was unwelcome. He spoke, out loud. “I think they scalded my brain.  The thoughts, … Continue reading →

The path ahead is clear, the ground compressed by thousands of footsteps during the course of several years.  Leaves cover the ground in a moist, mottled brown and grey and beige blanket, cushioning the terrain. But it’s not smooth; no, far … Continue reading →

We haven’t talked in some time, my friend, so I thought I’d write to inquire of your state of mind and the path your life is taking.  And, since I have a pen in hand, I’ll relay  my latest news, as … Continue reading →