Unseen magic happened within the baler. Then dense gold bricks were launched out of the womb, torpedoing toward me as I scrambled to stack them in the wagon. By the time I’d wrestled a bale into position . . . Continue Reading
But that is precisely what one should never do when they happen to hear their name echoing through the deep in Appalachia. Should one hear their name or even a simple ‘hello’ in the silence, it’s understood by locals to keep pressing forward without . . . Continue Reading
He stowed the treasure in his pants pocket and began to search the creek. He waded up and down, turned over rocks, and dug into the mud with his fingers, but he didn’t find any more marbles.
The heavy feeling in his chest that had become so familiar began to settle back over him, making him realize that it . . . Continue Reading
Kim nods as she walks back through the dark, narrow hallway. Her chest feels tight.
Marriage.
Then she relaxes.
Freedom.
No more unending silence. No more curfews. No more belts. . . Continue Reading
Ivy’s stomach felt queasy as Paula returned with the bottle. Ivy stared, unblinking, as Mrs. Maxwell poured boiling water over the bottle, and the air filled with steam wafting from the glass. The water spilled into the grass filling Ivy’s nose with the pungent smell of the greenery. Paula’s mother set the pot on the cement . . .Continue Reading
Then, out of the blue, she got all paranoid and barked at me to stop touching her mail, which ticked me off. She accused me of messing with stuff, but that’s ridiculous—I only . . . Continue Reading
I had to pry the details from her that night, like gently loosening rusted hinges on an ancient door. She kept dodging my questions as if something compelled her to keep the whole ordeal buried deep. But after a few hours she came out with most everything. Or at least with everything I will ever know . . . Continue Reading
Anyways, when Mr. Hawkins-Mills arrived on their back porch that day, he was carrying a heavy block of ice to put in her icebox. With the sun still high in the sky, that ice just kept right on dripping all over the place. Mr. Hawkins-Mills slipped on the wet floorboards, and his ice pick . . . Continue Reading
He was more nervous than before and kept looking around constantly. I tried to walk by him, but he grabbed my arm. He said, ‘It’s coming for me. It’s coming for me and there’s nowhere to go. It stalks me . . . Continue Reading
Still uncertain whether I can be seen, I follow them up the hill, staying as far back as I’m able and still see their lights. I am eager to part with my peculiar company. How my feet ache. How my heart strains. I do not know what awaits me at the Hinterland, but I am unsafe where I am . . .Continue Reading