Short Stories

5 MINMy dreamscape shifts, images fading in and out of consciousness. The flickering movie speeds up, then slows, finally resolving into something recognizable: My kitchen. The room is filled with a flat light that casts few…

15 MINI am weeping nearly as loudly as I am singing Dolly Parton’s “Just Because I’m a Woman,” as I drive the Turner Turnpike from Tulsa to Oklahoma City. Hurtling down the turnpike through uncontrollable tears…

6 MINIn the winter of 1955, I was a young girl from Queens who yearned to become a famous writer. My childhood had been unremarkable. I had loving parents, a few honest friends, and a modest, pleasant

23 MINThe first time I touched a dead person, I was ten years old at my grandfather’s funeral. I stared at his profile because I was not tall enough to look down at his face. I…

4 MINEarly morning, summer sun fills the study with peaceful yellow light. Already at my desk, reading emails, inhaling strong coffee, pondering a suitable response to the solicitor, hopefully one of the last I will ever…

17 MINLounging on the back patio in the shade of the cool evening, I soak in the relief of the heat dropping away. My attention drifts from the dogs playing in the grass and the tall,…

6 MINIn a metropolis inhabited by millions, Liz expects to avoid seeing anyone too familiar in her happy space, away from the cacophony of noise in New York City streets. She often escapes into stories finding…

16 MINHallie’s truck seemed to lean into the music just the way she did, on those last miles of the paved road corkscrewing up into the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Swaying along to the old favorite…

6 MINSarah and Annabelle finished their ahi tuna salads, sipped their iced teas, and asked for the check. “Feel like browsing?” Annabelle asked. Annabelle was always in the mood for browsing and Montana was their favorite…

7 MINWake up, Angela, wake up, a timid voice whispered into Laura’s ear. Heart fluttering under her skin, her t-shirt drenched in cold sweat, Laura wiped her forehead, turned into a mushy snail. She instinctively checked…

4 MIN“All our affairs seem to be in order,” William told her that evening over coffee.  “And profits should be high this year.” The family had just convened for the annual board meeting, which was always a…