The morning Deborah Hollis appeared on my porch at exactly seven o’clock, the air had that brittle quality that comes before everything breaks. February in northern Colorado meant snow measured […]
The Performance The Ring camera notification lit up my phone at 6:47 PM on a Tuesday evening. I expected a delivery driver or perhaps one of my neighbors’ wandering cats. […]
The Sky Remembers Hi, I’m Nova. My own parents looked me in the eye on a crowded plane and said I looked homeless. Told me not to sit near them […]
THE BLADE AND THE FRAME The scar on my shoulder had a pulse of its own—or at least, that’s how it felt every time I thought about the night I […]
THE GOLDEN FACADE The phone call came on a Tuesday afternoon in early December, while I was folding laundry in our small bedroom and listening to Marcus work in his […]
THE PERFORMANCE OF POVERTY The invitation had come casually, almost too casually, over coffee on a Tuesday morning. Adrien had been stirring his cappuccino with unusual focus, not meeting my […]
The words left my mouth before I could second-guess them. “Honey, I got fired today.” I stood in the doorway of our living room, still wearing my office clothes, my […]
The wedding coordinator had trembling hands and a headset that kept slipping down her temple when she walked me past the front rows like I was furniture being delivered to […]
THE DEED OF DECEPTION The funeral flowers were still fresh in their vases when everything changed. White chrysanthemums lined the windowsill of my small Chinatown apartment, their petals just beginning […]
The morning dew still clung to the white roses when I heard the deliberate crunch of expensive heels on the garden path. I didn’t need to look up from my […]