Strawberry Seeds

I dared her to eat the whole strawberry — green part and all — just to see if she would do it. Piper was like that…

The Interrogation of God

On Christmas Eve, the police interrogation room is still movie-theater dark, lit classically by a single shaded…

A Sundae Fixes Anything

It terrifies me to think about how many bad things can happen over fried chicken.

The Fisherman’s Daughter

The dock stretches twenty feet into the ocean. I remember a time when I would stand at its end, for hours, waiting…

Their Unspendable Coins

“There’s a license,” Coleman explains in quiet, expatriate English: slow enough and clear enough for Yury’s…

Silence

“I can’t hear you, Mama.”

Shiloh is three-years-old going on twelve. Seasonal rhinitis makes it hard for her to hear…

Mars to Life

Every room in Ally’s home bursts at the seams. The shoes don’t match on the racks and Blu-ray discs lie scattered across the living…

The Wisdom of Children

When it came to neighbors, Darling didn’t like them as a rule. They asked too many questions, were quite loud during…

Twentysomething

The leaving is in everything. You know that. This year hinges you between twenty and thirty, and the thought is terrifying.

Waiting

Sophie pinned her hair at the temples, and swooped out the sides of her eyeliner; she found safety in symmetry.