He stared out from behind the glass of a small frame, the picture taken 22 years ago as he stood on a beach, the sea behind him beneath a cloudless sky. She wanted to feel emotion at his passing, wanted to shed a tear, but couldn’t. He hadn’t been a bad h...
As he watched the football results in an electrical retailer’s window, he saw that the only goal scored in the Denwick-Whitelaw match was scored by Tristan Simian, a Swedish striker. It didn’t surprise him one iota. Tristan played for Denwick in the third...
To everyone in the room, she seemed like just a normal girl wearing Vans, bluejeans, and a red hoodie. But looks can be deceptive; the clothes chosen deliberately to conjure up that very word—normal. The volunteers saw only what they expected to see; what...
The girl walks down the sidewalk from the direction of the school. She's familiar for some reason. You don't know her but she seems like someone you have known. Makes no sense. You stumble, then continue approaching. It's hard not to glance up. Girls hate...
He squeezed his eyes tight and placed his palm over his ear in a vain attempt to shut out the noise that felt like a hammer blow to his brain each time it ricocheted into the bedroom. He lay in his bed, in the darkness, facing the window, the warmth of th...
The book on speaking Italian was of no interest to him, despite looking at it with apparent interest. He was in fact, surreptitiously looking through the shelves of books in the library at the computers where he had a good view of what people were looking...
It was brilliant. In fact, it was genius. He surprised himself at just how great his idea actually was, and it led him to ponder whether or not all great ideas came from the murky depths of a mind fuelled by alcohol. He was fast on the way to becoming dru...
Telephone poles whipped past her, each separate in her headlights but blurred and indistinct. The girl was traveling north. She drove the speed limit along the two-lane federal highway. Into the night she drove once more. Alone, heading towards the big ci...
I can't believe the cheek of him, bold as anything, staring out at me with his stupid face. Well, there's no way I'm putting up with this. No way. I've never liked him, never trusted him. He's smarmy and sly, and now here he is, a face on a poster outside...
They had planned it as the holiday of a lifetime, but Jen had known all along that it was her final attempt to save their marriage. She'd had very little help from Alex, as usual, other than a few affirmative nods and grunts over his evening bottle of Sco...
I have become suspicious of everyone. It is not something I particularly wanted, but it has become this way. I’m an inventor, you see, and I have invented a machine that everybody wants, especially corrupt, paranoid governments and dictators. They all kno...
I could not help remembering the old homeless man who explained that he possesses psychic abilities. I thought him nothing more than delusional when he told me he could see into the future, glimpsing visions of when and how others would die. I scoffed, fo...
I watched my copper mailbox dangle from the door of my bar through the blurs of my windshield wipers. The rubber gripped the glass, not a forgotten drop or streak. They were new. The car was new. The mailbox was rusted and tarnished. It was Sunday, I...
SHOTS FIRED James Connolly never wanted to be a police officer. However, after receiving the final results of his G.O.A.T. evaluation the powers that be had made the decision for him, much to his d...
WEST ONE They told him the badge would give away his affiliation, so he no longer wore it. Instead, Dennis Hsu had returned home in order to acquire a disguise; his civilian Vault 186 jumpsuit. V.S.P.F. jumpsuits bore a special insignia. On each arm, a...
