Spinning

Slam! A woman with graying hair forcefully sets a dirty, empty glass on top of an old, scuffed-up dryer. She wipes a dribble of sherry from her chin. Only mid-morning, she is already drinking. The laundry room has a strong musty smell due to mounds of dirty laundry strewn about the washroom. It also houses…

Peaceful Passing

The vigil continues. For several months now, a woman, breathing heavily, lays in bed awaiting death. Next to her, sitting bedside and holding her hand, is her husband. “It’s ok to go, to let the pain go, to finally rest,” he said to her. She looks at him unable to move, then acknowledges with just…

Cold Voice

On the banks of the Yukon River, around one hundred-fifty miles Northeast of Fairbanks, a man claws his way from the water onto dry land. Tired, he slowly pulls himself and a backpack onto shore one arm at a time. Finally getting out of the water, he turns, lays with his back on the gravel,…

The Detached

“There are no such things as ghosts,” said Aunt Isabel in a straightforward, definitive statement. “Do you understand, Celestina?” asked the aunt. Celestina, a girl of ten, nodded her head. “But what about Daldal’s story about the Detached?” she asked. Daldal is Aunt Isabel’s lady’s maid, and lives in a bungalow outside of Isabel’s plantation…

Faded Film

“What’s this?” said Mickey pulling a film out of its can. It was an old film – plastic-based, 35 millimeter, 16 frames per second – likely from the 1900s through the 1910s. It’s condition – poor and brittle. Mickey worked for the Studio as a one of their film restorers. His main job was to…

The Monument

One month after his wife’s burial, Lionel was once again at her grave. As before, he spent his time grieving, hurting. Being there seemed to be the only solace he could find these days. Kneeling with his face pressed against the ground, tears welled from his eyes and wet the grass. Wanting to be ever…