I hate flies. A day that begins with killing a fly is a good day. I hate the way they sneak into bins and loiter around food. I hate the way they well up like thick, black rain. Their buzzing pollutes a room so that the air is bad to breathe. I hate how they…

Frank cut out his own tongue so that he wouldn’t have to give the best-man speech. I heard from Kate. She didn’t believe it, either, not until we saw the caterer wringing blood from his apron. The caterer stood by the big garbage can, right near his vegetarian buffet. He didn’t even try to hide…

The newlyweds step kissing across the threshold of their moon-lit honeymoon hotel room. When the door closes behind them, they see a curled bundle of silhouette near the end of the double bed. “Someone’s pet is in here.” The woman is in her husband’s arms, and her voice is tinged with laughter, as though this…

Of the Grieved Still no rain. Eight months, says Hollister. More like nine, says James Earl. We stand in Hollister’s high meadow, what’s left of it. A hot wind crests the ridge, whips at the beard Hollister hasn’t trimmed since the disappearance, ripples the loose hides of his skeletal cattle like limp sails slapping against…

1. Declare your intent to think positively. This is not the time to be tentative. Call your friends over and inform them that you will no longer expect the worst in all situations. When they offer alcohol as a token of solidarity, accept it. Take a deep breath, and repeat out loud: “I am an…

Sam says that, theoretically, medicine is easy. With a detailed enough history, he says, you can diagnose anything. Then you just deal. There are diseases you can cure, conditions you can treat, and situations you just manage, or wait out. He says this when we’re on the steps that lead from the highway down through…

Right after Mel died, the power did too. The lights, the TV, everything. A tropical storm was trudging ashore and pounding Miami, the ash colored sky spinning down over roofs and hemorrhaging raindrops the size of quarters. My father took precautions. He clad himself in a dull-yellow rain jacket and hat. Knee-high boots, too. He…

Beat Sheet Mother is late again. She pulls up and Zach throws himself on the floor. She’s promised a treat if he behaves at the beach. He has Bobby’s soft Augusta drawl. “Ass cream, Gramma, ass cream.” We stop to give Jenna a lift to the airport. She knows how mother feels about her work.…

The bones made us so happy. We had been searching for anything to play with for weeks. You couldn’t do much with a wet twig or a handful of bark. We tried bowling with balls of dried mud but that fell apart quickly. “I guess that’s the way the mud ball crumbles,” our mother said.…

Here’s a picture of Janice Baker sitting on a wooden bench at the park holding her exposed left breast. This might be my favorite picture. I’ve looked at it so many times. Janice won’t care that I’m showing you this, at least not in this realm because she’s dead. Her parents won’t care either because…

My father saved me from drowning in the Atlantic Ocean. I remember, even if he can’t anymore. My tiny self toddled around on the hot sand. I scooped up fistfuls, threw it into the air, and watched the wind whisk it away. Waves crashed, the peaks of white foam beckoned and I entered the water…

The water leaks between the base of the toilet and the tile floor. It’s been leaking since he and his wife bought the house three years ago. She’s told him to fix it many times. Each day, after she leaves for work and he drops their son off at school, he goes to the upstairs…