Horror and Wholesome
The rumbling settles into silence. If shock hadn’t numbed me, I might’ve screamed. Might’ve called for help. But I lay flat on my back, knocked down by the falling stones, and all I can focus on is trying to figure out if I’m still alive. Breathing? Check. Heartbeat? Check. Pain? Double check. I start to... Continue Reading →
Growing up in a small town meant a lot of regulars. Places, routines, people. The gas station convenience store was a small microcosm of that greater regular. 6 am, Bill Donner stopped in on his way to the slaughterhouse for cigarettes and a package of powdered donuts. 7:15, the bus stop kids huddled around the... Continue Reading →
I have an addictive personality. It can be a problem. Thankfully I manage to channel it in things that aren’t, on their own, terrible for you. In particular, video games. Not the kind you play on your own, but the co-ops and the multiplayers and the MMOs. The social stuff. It’s how I make friends.... Continue Reading →
I saw my mother for an hour and a half each day. Half hour in the morning, when she’d wake me at 5:30 a.m. to get ready for school, and then an hour at night, just long enough to make sure I ate dinner and did my homework. The rest of the time, she was... Continue Reading →
Midnight jogs helped clear my head. Or maybe they just numbed me to my own thoughts. Run until it hurts. Run until all you can think about is where your next breath is going to come from. Run until you can’t think at all. The emptiness was welcome. Silence was a stranger to me except... Continue Reading →
My son loved books. If the only thing the kid ever got as a gift was books, he’d have been the happiest person on earth. No idea where he got it from; his dad and I could barely bother skimming short news articles, much less intentionally sit down to slog through a book. Cole, though.... Continue Reading →
I’d been told and told and told not to take the path through the woods. It was a gnarled route of twists and turns, a slice of solid dirt cutting through deceptive swaths of peat that covered dark, swallowing depths. Nan warned me every morning before I left the house. “Don’t you leave the main... Continue Reading →
They gathered ‘round the ouija board, fingers poised, nervous laughter rippling through their small group. Anya, the de facto leader, silenced them with a sharp look. “This is serious,” she whispered, her tone harsh as the candlelight against the dark. The other three nodded, more solemn now, although Kita couldn’t wipe the smile entirely off... Continue Reading →
Nursing and being a nun aren’t really such different things. As the former, I help look after the body. As the latter, I help look after the soul. Nourishing both is important to leading a healthy, happy life. When I was a young woman, fresh out of my nursing program and fresher still out of... Continue Reading →
My family came over from the old country only a generation ago. Gran waddled off the boat in 1954, nine months along and ready to drop Dad the moment she set foot on American soil. She had the courtesy to wait until Granddad got her to their apartment in the Irish quarter, at least. Despite... Continue Reading →
