The slouched figure saunters slowly down the street pushing a banged-up shopping cart before him. He wears tattered clothing and carries with him a bit of stench from each of the garbage cans he's rummaged through. Leonard is his name. He's 35 years old. He looks 65....
The western sun sank slowly toward a ridgeline adorned with the spiny fingers of naked poplar trees. Angular shadows from the porch railing sprawled lazily across the porch, slowly pointing toward evening. The chains supporting the porch swing he sat in squeaked in...
The grits were hot, and the butter began to melt immediately into golden pools on the uneven surface, collecting around the edges of the bowl. Lazy curls of steam from freshly brewed coffee rose upward, blending to form the comfortable aromas of breakfast. Mixed...
I walked into Mickey Mulligan's Pub and stood in the doorway for a moment. Mickey's place was designed to look less like a bar and more like a cave; it was very dark, with lots of shadows and very little light. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust, but I spotted her...
Honeyed tongues drip practised lies so sweetly. The words of him whom she has barely met are already covertly caressing places too intimate for the hand she does not yet permit, the cock she has not yet seen, the tongue only heard and not yet tasted. One hand playing...
The nudist funeral procession made its slow way through town, with most folk proceeding on foot. The leading sixty-three mourners, (six of them serving as pallbearers) and the deceased himself were all naked. A few mourners wore discreet transparent black veils. Some...
"You're damn eyes are gonna fall outta your head, Elsie...starin' through them binoculars like that." "Shh....someone'll hear you...Bea!" "Lordy, sister, who are you lookin' at now?" "Mr. Henderson just kissed his wife goodbye. She came out the door in nothing but her...
He eased himself onto the stool next to her boss and ordered a gin and tonic. "Karen won't be able to make it tonight." The look on his bar mate's face, a mixture of confusion, shock, and just a hint of fear, amused him. "I'm sorry ... did you say something?" "Karen...
"Danny Boy, you got that look," Augie said, offering a bottle of Jameson and a shot glass. "I'm thinking you need something stronger than the usual." Danny responded with a wan smile. "Yeah, okay. What the hell." Augie set the glass on the bar and filled it to the...
Story inspired by the song 'It's All Over Now, Baby Blue' by Van Morrison A mental snapshot. My 10-year-old Callie, shrieking, jumps into my arms, bony fawn legs locked above my waist. "Daddy, daddeee, I missed you so much. Did you miss me?" Her arch little smile, so...