Kowalski dragged his hand down his forehead, over his not insubstantial nose, and into the tangled mass of his beard. He was pretty sure it had more gray hairs in it than when he’d woken up in the morning. “Tell me again,” he said, “who dumped the dolphin in the pool. It sounded like you… Continue reading Cowboy’s Ain’t Easy to Love and Dolphins Are Harder to Hold
Stories and Essays
Time Is A Pancake
Vinyl squeaked as Paxton’s mom, red eyes and all, slid into the booth across from him. Paxton crunched ice and sighed through his nose. His mom saw it. “Don’t be so judgy, Pax. There’s nothing wrong with a little wake and bake. Weed’s legal in Alaska, even if the Fed’s haven’t gotten on board.” “Trust… Continue reading Time Is A Pancake
Of Mice and Muscadine Wine
Though the unusual smells and unusual location of the human bodies discomfited the mouse, he made bold and dashed from the gap between the machines known to the humans as the refrigerator and the dishwasher to a more central location under the one chair in the kitchen that was still standing. The other three were… Continue reading Of Mice and Muscadine Wine
The Empty Cupboard
His pantry held two kilos of chocolate, two kilos of coffee, two bottles of mezcal. The chocolate ground with almonds, cinnamon, and sugar and pressed into discs the size of silver dollars. The coffee grown in the shade by people who preferred the language of their ancestors to that of the Spanish invaders. The mezcal… Continue reading The Empty Cupboard
Baboon Fingers on Glass
Addisyn couldn’t sleep the night before she was scheduled to rotate back to Earth. She slipped into her uniform and wandered the quiet hallways of the base. Without meaning to, she found herself standing outside Pappy’s enclosure, idly stirring her chamomile tea. The sugar was long since dissolved. She just liked watching the tea go… Continue reading Baboon Fingers on Glass
Practical Life Advice from Bathtub Dan
Bathtub Dan learned the hard way: if you are taking a bath with a woman, memorize her last name. Just in case. Because she’ll be pissed if you don’t know it. Most women have a first name and a last name. Not Madonna. Not Beyoncé. Was it a singer thing? What about Grimes? Dan wasn’t… Continue reading Practical Life Advice from Bathtub Dan
The Place the Sun Won’t Rise
A bright moon hangs in a dark-blue sky and draws shadows twice life-size on the snow. Kevin’s eyes trace the roofline of Merna’s shed, the shadow of the furnace exhaust boiling its way east toward the notch in the hills where the sun won’t rise tomorrow. Kevin’s phone says it’s December eighteenth. Three days to… Continue reading The Place the Sun Won’t Rise
Things Nora Didn’t Know
Nora pushed the empty mayonnaise jar around the tiled floor of Luca’s apartment with her nose. She didn’t know it, but Luca had named her for the woman who had broken his heart. Nora—the whippet, not the woman—had found him slumped on a stone bench in Oaxaca’s central plaza as the October sun crept over… Continue reading Things Nora Didn’t Know
A Reason for the Moon to Return
Vernon didn’t see the cricket coming. He’d figured he’d while away the lonesome lockdown hours teaching himself to pick a banjo, so he swept the faded floorboards in his bedroom, faced a wooden chair to the window, and set to. It was slow going at first but Vernon didn’t mind, he didn’t want to teach… Continue reading A Reason for the Moon to Return
Friend of the Bottle
She sits at the oak desk with eyeliner and gin, with lipstick and eyeshadow. The silk stocking she’s not yet donned sits next to the plate of lime wedges she had the foresight to slice after reading the letter and before unstoppering the bottle. She sits at the oak desk and ignores all that’s on… Continue reading Friend of the Bottle