Short Stories

La Belle Dame

The dark never felt so cold and deafening as it did that first night Alice found herself gagged and bound to a stranger’s bed. How she got there remains a mystery.

She had been driving east with her boyfriend on the Interstate 90 towards
Minneapolis to visit the University of Minnesota.

She and Dave had just been accepted, and even though they both planned on attending, the fresh warmth of spring seemed to
merit a quiet weekend away.

Little Pierogi

Not an inch of snow had fallen during the weeks leading up to the Christmas holiday, but it was still just as a frigid, with “record low temperatures in the single digits!” said the KARE 11 Weather Reporter.

Grandma liked to listen to the weather
every morning while she cooked her “everything omelets,” which were basically eggs with whatever leftovers she could find.

Mahjong Tiles

The navy paint from the Winston Plumbing logo had started to fade on the cold white metal of the Chevy van parked outside the Ottness house.

Dave had just finished installing a new water heater for his friends Ottie and Rita.

An icy blast of Minnesota wind hit his face as he left the house, loading his bucket of tools and rusty dolly into the van.

Late Father

Harry and Lavinia Wiggard lived in a canary-yellow colonial house, situated right across the street from Howard Lake High School, which lent itself as the ideal location when they decided to become foster parents.

The town was small and quaint, just an hour outside Minneapolis, which had been all these high-school sweethearts ever knew, but quite the change for Sadie Mort who arrived at their doorstep only two months ago with a violet suitcase and her mother’s old guitar.

Mourning After

The storm from last night left a salty staleness in the air of Block Island. It was as though the sea had vomited all its deadened waste, like a putrid mist engulfing all other scents.

During April, storms of this severity were rare, but certainly possible, for surely all can recollect ten years to the day when Caroline Murray was lost at sea...

Oyster & Clams

June’s phone buzzed with a message from Katia: Rick is running late picking me up so let’s just meet at the restaurant.

June glanced up at Anthony, her boyfriend of two and a half years, who she would probably marry if nobody better came along.

“Let me guess, she’s running late?”