Background Noise

A crowd is arguing about a standard political miscommunication, and the t-shirts on both sides reflect the history of the war they are currently fighting. Some contain platitudes about life written in plain white text on black fabric, and others minimalist portraits of leaders who were killed by someone that didn’t care much either way. […]

Cardinal

Buildings fold like paper in the wind she couldn’t take her hands out of her pockets. The stone tiles under her feet made a bigger picture out of the pavilion. It was a symbol for directional awareness, a star that pointed every which way possible. She saw a nervous cardinal hopping in the snow, piled […]

Surfacing

Old men, up to their waists in water, got scorched by the sun, and tried to catch some catfish with their hands. The rocks under their bare feet were smooth and sank into the sand beneath their steps. They tried to find the bottom feeders through the way the water felt, and all the subtle […]

When Reminded Of Our Universe

It’s all wrong. The features of the cliff faces in the Southwest, the spots on the tail of the gecko. The shadows under her eyes while she reads in the dark with a flashlight under her covers. Their constant need to own, and to be owned. It gets too dark in the deep parts of […]

The Visitor

Trailer parks are monuments to rusted chrome. Flaking aluminum peeling like paint off the sides of tear shaped homes. “I want you to come over.” She said to him wrapping the red phone cord around her fist so tight it almost made it numb. The whole place thought that she was dumb, but the truth […]

Unknowns

The unknowns do their best work with outdated software, while most people wouldn’t know what they were looking at. Comic book shops and computer cafes all a buzz with conversations about different worlds. Maybe this has all been preparation? The late night echoes in tired minds that haven’t been to sleep for several days. The […]

Precious Pictures

A man jumped off the bridge that lead from the highway into town. There were soccer games going on at the park in its shadow. He face planted into the concrete path like a drunk kid into a pool. From the neck down the body stuck out of the ground in a puddle made from […]

Illusory

A cabinet of mugs all painted with the logos of brands and cartoon characters spawned before the decade. Coffee like oil for biological machines that chug it down in swigs that make their teeth a darker color matching splintered boards. Staying awake is the only concern. While dreams break through reality in the form of […]

Last Day of Autumn

Blue tablets oval shaped to go down as easy as possible. Their job was to make it so Lina and Jim didn’t get too excited around each other. The corporate printed books in their graffiti covered lockers were so much more important than any feelings. Still there was a glow around the rim of their […]

Industrial Suburb

Squirrels on wires dangle and when they’re done they don’t. Some kids are cracking rocks over a backyard fence with broom handles, not for lack of proper equipment, but for a challenge. One of their older sisters has her boyfriend in the basement, and they are whispering about parts of themselves always hidden behind clothes […]