My journal of big words and pretty pictures
The last item to go onto the pile was the mop she used to clean the kitchen floor. With more vehemence than necessary, she shoved the tines of the For Sale sign in the ground beside the debris. “Still not going to tell him before you leave?“ Aileen had refused to help her sister, Maureen, … Continue reading Gone by sunset
Road-weary and brain-numb, Derek rubbed at his gritty eyes, then rolled down his car window. Maybe the cold air would help keep him awake, he had a long, desolate stretch of highway ahead of him. He had driven for hours without seeing a single other car. The only light was his headlamps and the waxing crescent … Continue reading Road weary
Sirens blared, sending reverberations down every tunnel, rattling doors, and threatening to shatter windows. Two shorts blasts and a single sustained squeal meant someone had gone Topside. Troops flooded the alleys in an effort to quell public panic. They were only adding to the confusion. Kennedy and Bradley sat on the worn couch in their … Continue reading Topside
I tried telling people that the bruises were from my clumsiness, or that I merely bruised easily. No one believed me. The tiny, evenly spaced, purple ovals, the exact shape of an angry fingertip, erupted on my arms regularly, often with the previous alien markers not completely faded alongside the newer ones. As a child, … Continue reading Yellow slick
I wanted to put as many miles behind me as I could. When I kept driving over the shoulder rumble strips I knew I had to stop. The sun was just cresting the horizon. After finding the only open spot in the crowded parking lot, I shuffled into the hotel lobby. If I was more … Continue reading Rumble strips
Standing at the entrance to the forest, hands clasped, fingers intertwined, they both look straight ahead trying to see through the canopy to the other side. He feels her heat radiating against his arm, and she wills her heart to beat in rhythm with his. Across the threshold lies their freedom, all they need do … Continue reading Into the woods
Thin spiral notebook 