Horror and Wholesome
When my daughter was young, she liked to make up silly rules for our household. On Wednesday evenings, we all wore a sock on our right foot, but nothing on our left; if someone sneezed, the only polite response was “Godzilla nights”; if you dropped something you were carrying, you had to leave it on... Continue Reading →
Nursing is hard work for too little pay. You never feel it more keenly than when you’re getting off a double shift in the middle of the night. All the smells cling to the inside of your nose, you’re convinced you didn’t scrub your hands well enough to really wash off that last hour, and... Continue Reading →
“Be a good one.” It was what my grandfather said to me when I told him I wanted to be a cop. I promised him I would. I’d been nervous, standing in front of him and the rest of my family and saying it out loud. They were all college educated and white collared. I... Continue Reading →
Jack O’Lanterns were never part of my Halloween. Gran didn’t allow them. She didn’t approve much of any modern All Hallow’s Eve traditions, but especially not the carved pumpkins. “A Devil’s gift to a damned soul,” she’d say. Her Irish lilt was always thicker when she was was reproachful. “As long as I’m under this... Continue Reading →
Patch the tiny pumpkin had become bored. She had been sitting in the same spot for a very long time. It was nice to see the humans come and go from the churchyard, but once it started to get dark and the gates were closed for the night, there wasn’t much to keep her entertained.... Continue Reading →
It was winter when they started going missing. The kids from Dunburry. An eight year old boy was first. A tragedy, to be sure, but the last time anyone saw him, he’d been heading out toward the lake. Most suspected he’d wandered on to a weak spot and gone through. The town would have to... Continue Reading →
It had been a long day, but a good day. The churchyard had been filled with kids and their parents and so many pumpkins! There had been hayrides and face painting and even jack o’lantern carvings. Now the sun was starting to go down and it was time for the families to go home. One... Continue Reading →
It was a vacation of firsts. My first time on a plane, my first time out of the US (yes, Canada still counts!), my first time taking a ferry. My husband kept insisting it wasn’t a big deal, that we were just visiting his parents, but I might as well have found the wardrobe to... Continue Reading →
Calum gave me the Alexa. He thought it was a sweet surprise. I thought of it as another “smart” device to listen in on conversations. I had barely gotten used to using an iPhone, already three generations old by the time I’d gotten it, to help keep our long distance relationship running smoothly. I had... Continue Reading →
I was twenty when I signed up to volunteer with the Long River Fire Company. My dad had been a volunteer fireman with them for well over a decade by then and I took a lot of pride in wearing my gear beside him. He took a lot of pride in getting to fires before... Continue Reading →
Stories By S.H. Cooper 