The girl stopped me, motioning towards the open takeout container in my hands. She was no more than thirteen, her face open and empty as the moon that hung over Istanbul that night. She glanced at my husband, who shook his head no, then fixed her eyes back on the contents of my container: a […]
The stars on the ceiling don’t glow much anymore. They haven’t since Miss Jessie left, or maybe it just seems like that. Either way, Nolan still looks at them as he lies awake. Mama Caswell swiped all his comics, and she won’t let him share a room with Lexie anymore. She never explained why either. […]
My grandfather dies on the stairs, no doubt dressed from hat to socks in maroon and gold. He is ready for the game, ready to chant “For Boston” on behalf of the Boston College Eagles, but his heart has other plans. It lurches and works overtime, until it is done, his 50-year-old heart. The shock […]
The snow was disintegrating into a puddle beneath my feet at the cliff where I’d been standing for the past four hours, keeping my eyes sharply peeled as I was commanded. I was unnecessarily prudent, I was fulfilling the order punctiliously, although I couldn’t feel my toes anymore. Wrapped up in thick, harsh […]
On All Souls Day, I descended the infinite well of marble steps, down and down, it was a bank holiday in Catalonia with businesses closed so the street gave off that dull, saturnine feeling of old Irish Sunday afternoons, though it was a Friday. On All Souls Day, I walked for eight hours, my thoughts […]