Fiction

The starlings come at 11:00. They leave. They return. They leave. Every departure is as complete as the one before. An escape from certain death. And every return—I don’t know…

[Image: “Pink Island, White Waves,” by Milton Avery] Dense underpinnings waffle beneath your back, shirt gone scrunched and reckless, no big deal you think, but it bothers you. The little…

[Image by Alison James] Ted Cruz Is Sad About His Beard this morning. He’s more aware of the Internet than anyone thinks he is and this is not the meme…

[Image: “Dog Upon Her Shoulder, by Caren Keyser] King Reggie was not sure he knew what Tonya was doing.  Her smell was off today and she was behaving the same way…

[Image by Laura Vena] Jason Augustus Newel crashed into my life in 3…2…1… I barely remember the impact, only the sound of shattering ceramic half a second before my forehead…

I went out for a walk on Easter morning, and all the houses in The Nice Neighborhood had their windows open wide with the scent of French Toast wafting out.…

[Image: Remedios Varo, “Papilla Estelar”] I met the autodidact outside the world’s oldest library. That’s how he introduced himself to me: the autodidact. With a definite article, as though he were…

The halo told me I was on the edge, and this wasn’t a simple hangover from Benny’s Halloween party. The alarm clock, the ceiling light, even my bedroom door, all…

THE NEXT WAVE They might think that our gym obsession is about exercise, a healthy lifestyle, a swimsuit body, but we know better. We say nothing as we steadily climb…

It was to be the show’s last season. There had been too many lawsuits by kin of the deceased. Still, ratings were astronomical. And Kris Calhoun was determined to make…

Our real estate agent, Bonnie, texted me about the estate sale. We had been in the new house for just over a month and had hardly finished unpacking: the cardboard…

Sniffle teary those few months after Spencer died. Poor sterile sod burned through life oh man as if stung by a thousand bees. Dirty miser thought himself. Special. And Spencer…

Dear Editors of the New York Times Crossword Puzzle, Please do not dismiss this as just another crank letter. I swear that everything that I relate to you here is…

[Image Credit: “Dead Bird” by Julie de Graag”] Shh. Sarah takes from the cardboard box a tarnished cartridge. She runs her fingers around its machined edges, silver cap color of the…