Mister Howards is a man who wants to be another man, and his life is not better off for it. He is a school teacher at Saint Howards where he teaches Social Projects to students whose parents could ruin his life for dramatic effect. Naturally, he is pessimistic about life, and life taught him this:…

“And so they’re up there, and you’re down here.” The girl reclines on a long rock, set in the mouth of the cave like a lolling tongue. Her words drift over the in-and-out breath of the waves and the rumbling roll of pebbles in the surf. They’ve been talking for hours now, ever since she…

1. Kelsey knew her Daddy wasn’t around, but she wasn’t old enough to comprehend specifics. Her Momma, Lynn, froze when Kelsey asked where he was. “Your Daddy’s… up in space.” It was more specific than “he’s gone,” but vague enough that she had time to let the idea ride before Kelsey smartened up. It was…

A few years ago, having arrived early for a flight that was then delayed, I found myself at a champagne bar in the Edinburgh airport, where I recognized the woman sitting to my right. It had been twenty years since we’d spoken, though of course from my seat in the balcony, I’d seen her at…

The woman was jogging through the park when she spotted the man, hunched at the base of an oak tree and caressing a ruffled, beach ball-sized mushroom. She stopped to catch her breath. “What on earth?” “Grifola fondosa,” he said. “Come look.” Together, the man and woman coaxed the mushroom out of the dirt. After…

The Oyisis were having a family meeting, at the prodding of Grandmother, when death walked in. Picture a man, a dreadful black hat, clear fatal eyes, grey knee-length coat missing pockets, lace-up toe-pointed gentleman shoes shimmering with polish, and a screaming silence attached to chain smoker lips. That’s it. Now, had he made an appearance…

It’s fine to be saved but what happens afterwards? The ship lands, thrusters smoldering on the tarmac, and the cameras rush in: Welcome home, Colonel. What are you going to do next? What do you have to say to all those taxpayers who sacrificed universal healthcare to finance your rescue? Are you happy? You say…

In the summertime, I have heard, Utopia Falls lives up to its name. The hillside cabins are full of families. Kids play dodgeball and red light, green light in the field. Every night in Reverend James B. Swanson Hall guests sit down to dinner side-by-side at the long tables in the late light, and help…

In it they found four tiny bottles of shower gel, six tiny lotions, a plastic laundry bag swollen with balled up clothes — I was on my way home, clearly, trip over. They found one neatly folded pair of shorts and two neatly folded tank tops underneath a one-piece cobalt swimsuit that had not been…

When I was in college I saw a movie where the protagonist collected glass figurines of goats. He was a struggling artist with a two bedroom apartment in Manhattan, a genius spurned by his peers, until a woman, another artist, appeared in his life and helped him to greatness. I wanted to be a genius,…

The baby makers were not willing accomplices. The women’s bodies, young and old, had all stopped preparing. They said there was too much pain involved. The pain of sex, the pain of birthing and the pain of taking care of the children were all too much for them. They complained about the black bags developing…

Before her students arrive Kayla spends several minutes at the blackboard dotting her i’s and grinding the chalk for periods to end her sentences. She wants the instructions clear. She unhinges the classroom’s large window and runs a nylon string from wall to wall. She dangles small chunks of rabbit meat across its length. When…