• Sacred Pass

    A small village sits in a dip in the mountain. Outsiders call it Sacred Pass, because it is safe from avalanches or rockslides. There’s a perfect ledge leading to a lake off the side of the mountain where all the runoff falls and avoids the village completely. Anyone who lives there, though, simply calls it…

  • An Attempt

    There’s a house at the top of the tallest hill, with a light on in the atticNo one knows who lives in the house, but someone mustHow else would the lamp be lit, every day as the sun goes down?Do you dare knock on the door? No one knows who lives in the house, but…

  • An Obituary

    It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of Ms. Susannah Coolidge, of Fair-weather Place. Yes, the same Susannah Coolidge who cooks everyone those delightful sugar cookies on their birthdays. Her cooking will be missed. And so will she, of course. On May 3rd, 2022 Susannah attended her last block party with…

  • A Horror Setting

    The light comes through the heavy cloud cover in a misty haze. We haven’t seen a true sky in months, ever since the eruption. I wonder if we’ll ever feel the warmth from the sun again. I hear the mist is worse in the mountains, but down here it’s not so bad. We can at…

  • Imaginary Friends pt 5

    Looking back now, it was all so… clear. But in the moment, who would have thought much of it? I sure didn’t. When Delilah was a baby, I loved holding her in front of the mirror. She would smile at her reflection and babble. It was adorable. She’d reach out and touch her own face…

  • Imaginary Friends pt 4

    Jennifer shrugged her coat off in the hallway and frowned at our son’s retreating back. I ruffled his curls as he passed me and skipped to his room, but I had my eyes on Jennifer. “What’s up?” I asked. “He did it again…” she whispered. “Did what?” I whispered back, trying to make her smile.…

  • Imaginary Friends pt 3

    The Johnson’s moved to the neighborhood at the end of May. The wife, Tanya, the husband, Lucas, and their six-year-old son, Martin. They moved into the big blue house with the white pillars on the wrap-around porch. My mother always loved that house. But I’d never known anyone to actually live there. My whole childhood,…

  • Imaginary Friends pt 2

    Riley jumped into the backseat, her large backpack thumping against her small body. Before she even pulled the seatbelt across her shoulder, she was already talking. Spilling all the gossip about her day and I smiled at her in the rearview mirror. “- and Steven told Lillian her shoes weren’t pink, they were purple. So…

  • Imaginary Friends pt 1

    Icy fingers touched my arm, and I jerked awake. For a split second, I thought something sinister stood over me in the dark, but then my brain became alert and I realized it was my son. “Jake, what are you doing out of bed?” I rubbed my eyes and pushed myself into a sitting position.…

  • A Sob Story

    She huddles on the ground, not uttering a single word. But she covers her face with her hands and won’t even tilt her face in my direction. I know she’s crying, though. Sobbing, really, judging by the constant shake of her shoulders and the tremors racing through her entire body. If I step closer to…