The plastic on the windows crinkled, the fire in the furnace flickered, and the room got colder still. Junebug’s black cashmere sweater was soft and warm against her pale skin. The moonshine warmed her from within. The dogs moved closer to the flickering fire and . . . Continue Reading
Eventually, I stumbled upon the page of some woman I’ve never met. I think she goes to my papaw’s church or something. I’m not sure, but what caught my attention was this string of bad poems she kept posting.
One read . . . Continue Reading
I was still. The wind rumbled just like Thurl Ravenscroft did from my room. A gust of wind blew through the treetops, and all of them let out this baritone groan that made my hands shake. Maybe this was what Grandma was talking about. Maybe . . . Continue Reading
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