Writes
The first time I met her, she told me her dream. It was a simple dream, one that — in the past, when real estate prices were still somewhat reasonable — could have been realized with ease. It wasn’t a lofty dream like my own. For my ideal future involved becoming a New York Times... Continue Reading →
The temperature aboveground was brutally frigid. Levi — who for the past two nights had been laid out on a bench inside a heated train car on the A, C, and E line — lowered his eyelids protectively over his retinas and climbed out into the low winter sun, stumbling onto the sidewalk and falling... Continue Reading →
Have you ever had the course of your life change in the span of a traffic light? I have. It was a subtle, but rapid change. A change I thought belonged only in scripted novels or films. In order to begin this story, I will have to start at the intersection of Washington and Rogers. I was driving home from... Continue Reading →
I find people fascinating. I just don’t like them. Those were the first words she said to me. We were sitting next to each other on a park bench. She had a cigarette poised between her index and middle finger. I had a pen pressed between my thumb, index, and middle finger. Ahead of us,... Continue Reading →
The cashier handed Lukas two one-dollar bills, one quarter, and three pennies. He slipped the money into his pocket without looking at her. He then grabbed the plastic bag on the counter and quickly left the store.Outside the shop's entrance, Lukas reached in for the music box and let the plastic bag float onto the... Continue Reading →
Olivia Ramírez lived off a dirt road in the Maine woods. But she had not always lived in a rural area. Born in North Central Bronx Hospital, she spent her youth in a two-bedroom, run down brownstone in Norwood where she enjoyed a secluded, studious life with her mother and older sister. Two days after her... Continue Reading →
“Do you know what time it is?” “It’s 7:04.” “Thank you. My phones battery just died. So I can’t tell the time.” Sofia watched as the man to her left slid his phone in his pocket and reached into his leather backpack. He pulled out a thick, white book. Smiling, Sofia pulled out her own copy... Continue Reading →
The writer was attending the meeting of a third book club for the novel In Jest. They had been kicked out of two prior book clubs for disorderly conduct, i.e. instigating verbal confrontation with group members. It had taken them two weeks of scouring online sources to find this book club, and they had to take the Subway... Continue Reading →
The island breeze hit the back of Héctor’s neck, pulling horizontally at the fine hairs. It was seventy-one degrees, cool enough for a sweater. But his client, a tourist from Frankfurt named Hans, had sweat beads dripping down his sunburned skin. Hans was an investment banker: single, forty-six, and recently grappling with the consequences of his inactive, high-stress lifestyle. Despite... Continue Reading →