…Rain was soon to come. And the stiffening body in front of her would soon be slick and sodden, wreathed by shallow puddles, but not gone. How soon would he start to bloat? She still needed to think, so she hardly breathed, needing more time…

The Right Intention

Let it unravel. 
That was how he thought of it: an unraveling, like spooled ribbon being unfurled into a long silky string. The mind was easy to conquer if you knew how to work it. It could be trained, treated. Taught new tricks….

The Unraveling

Getting through life staying sober was like trying to break down a wall b y endlessly scratching at it when all I wanted to do was use a sledgehammer. Ella didn’t know how hard I tried.

The Weight of It, originally in Toho Publishing’s The Best Short Stories of Philadelphia

Doe-eyed Lola, who laughed coquettishly, fixated on him with a laser focus, and smiled confidently with the air of a little nymphet-in-the-making. She continued to stroll on in her own world as if she had no inkling of the effect she could give…

Dutch Clover