My journal of big words and pretty pictures
You could read the sign on the side of Dr. Randall’s medicine wagon from a half-mile away. He’d roll into town every couple of months to put on a show. It was a cross between a tent revival meeting and a wandering minstrel faire. Granny used to say all Randall sold was snake oil and … Continue reading Medicine Show
The sign hanging outside the seamstress’ shop creaked as it slowly swayed above the store entrance. Flakes of sun-bleached paint fell with each swing peppering the sidewalk dull green and yellow. If passers-by peered through the storefront’s milky, open-backed windows, they would see stripped dress forms lined up like a phalanx of linen and papier-mâché … Continue reading Open call
The pathway through the marsh was built to endure - straight, solid, and indestructible. Even the marsh’s ravenous denizens were repelled by it. The stone viaduct was impervious to all but the miasma of wretchedness that rose from the muck. The fecund foliage surrounding the path encroached on the bridge’s low barrier rail stretching sinewy … Continue reading Dead man walking
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
The invitation was penned in elegant calligraphy on fine, handmade cotton rag paper, and sealed with a dark crimson, wax stamp embossed with an intricate Cappas family crest. It was hand-delivered on a sunny, Monday morning, by the family retainer. “Who was that?” Belinda Danner called out to her daughter. Gillian turned the envelope over … Continue reading Meeting the neighbors
Her skin felt oppressive; she wanted to strip it off and run around the room naked - nothing but muscle and bone - probably screaming too. There would definitely be screaming, and proverbial gnashing of teeth and beating of the breast. Of course, that would get messy without skin to contain the gore, then she’d … Continue reading Social call
Thin spiral notebook 