Summers were endless then. The few days spent by the seaside with my parents were followed by weeks of boredom. I have no brothers or sisters, and none of my friends lived nearby. For some strange reason, in my childhood neighborhood there were only childless couples. You could never hear the screams of children playing,…

I was twelve and my brother Daniel was nine when we began our lessons with Sister Marie. She’d somehow gotten word of the boys living motherless on a farm ten miles out in the Puyallup Valley, unable to read or write. She sent a letter to our father informing him that she was worried for…

What it felt like: A hole in the sky to see through. Staring at the too-bright page craving ready revelation, something like, Oh my God, I am or Oh my God, I love or Oh my God, I will. Reaching out both hands and each returning full of what’s there waiting, American idiom. In the…

Somebody gets in touch on her work email, sends photos. “I know what you’ve done. I’m sure your husband would love to see these.” Her leatherette chair folds its wings about her, light from the man-size windows lays her bare. Jamie waits for her to read out some numbers. She stares at the phone in…

The porch was cluttered, though at dusk under the burned-out bulb I couldn’t have told you with what, and the screen door banged shut behind us as we walked inside. They didn’t have central air, so the blinds were drawn all day, and in the evenings they opened the doors and windows to get the…

It is a cold night and Olivia has left me. I would attempt telling you about it, but the empty corners of my room have more to say. I’m too busy falling apart. What can I say? It is a cold night, Olivia has left me, I am falling apart. What do you want me…

On the limestone platform jutting into the Great Sound social distancing was unfeasible, but Qisha felt obligated to stay within earshot. Dr. Brillard would perhaps care to know the names of the islands across the water, hardly more than bits of rock, or what lay beyond on the rugged horizon where the Cathedral and BELCO’s…

It’s because of the colors that she decides to do it. She’s up on the roof of their house, something she’s never done before, and the shingles are hot and rough against her skin. She digs her heels in, bracing herself, and lets go of the camera. Actually, she more tosses it because she’s a…

When he pictured himself drafted into some hopeless future war alongside every other able-bodied young man in the west, he looked forward to the level playing field this equalizing circumstance would put him on alongside the podcasters, musicians, and minor writers who were not household names but who had influenced his aesthetic sensibilities and his…

Andre doesn’t go out dancing anymore. On Saturdays, he paints these sad-boy Edward Hopper scenes. Faceless men at bus stops. Hunched guys alone in diners. Once he painted a woman on the red line, her face hidden by a tangle of blonde hair. I knew it was me. He’s lucky he’s got a steady hand…

I spy the insect as I prepare for bed. I am in my office, leaning across my desk to extinguish the small green lamp that tints the baby blue walls emerald, when a flutter of black from below catches my eye. My gaze dips, and there, atop an unopened yellow four-pack of moisturizing lip balms,…

When I opened my apartment door, my friend Sandy stood in the doorway, her clothes disheveled and stained with blood, her hair matted on both sides, twisted like stray wires. “Sandy!” I said. “Come in, you look like a wreck!” “I am a wreck,” she said. “I was just in a car accident.” “Oh no,”…