By: DC Foster Scar tissue mottled the old man’s hands, the thinner the lighter; it ran like Desert Storm camouflage from his wrists into his fingers toward the jaundiced nails that tipped each of his ten digits. No, nine digits. His…
By: Richard D. Hartwell It must have been about 1955 or ‘56 when I was first a procurer for my cousin Jocelyn. I don’t recall whose idea it was to sell from door to door, but it fell to me…
By: W. Jack Savage I woke up, having planned to go in a little late and had told my employer so the night before. My son’s birthday was coming up and I knew what he wanted. It was a T-shirt…
By: Lee Oleson Sylvia had a face too thin, eyes sunk deep, shoulders and body uncomfortably narrow, dark hair, and a neck a little too long, jumbled into what’s sometimes called unconventional beauty. She had made her way through life…
By: Erin F. Robinson It was his last night playing guitar at the tango salon as a bachelor. His band mates lined up at the bar, and as Flor poured them each a glass of gin, she raised the last glass…
By: John Michael Flynn Christmas was a week away when Tillman Grossklag found Claudia Ruden face down in vomit on the floor of her Manhattan apartment. Tillman was the only person Claudia had entrusted with a key. Tillman removed the…
By: Ian Cassidy As a child I never read a kid’s book, I just didn’t get on with them. Narnia, Wind in the Willows, Winnie, Alice and William, I read them all later, as an adult, I think they’re…
By: Vanessa Cutts A dusty old brass gramophone stood in the corner of the square, sparsely furnished room. The only other piece of furniture was a long wooden divan seat that doubled for sitting and sleeping. Black and white photos of…
By: Richard Lutman He hoped the long drive through the cold December rain would be worth it. The decision to see Nancy again hadn’t been an easy one. It had been a year since he’d seen her last. There had…
By: Joseph Grant The venerable old Grand Central Market was as good a place to meet as any, thought Eddie Ruggerio. It had been on Grand Street for almost a decade on the entire ground floor of the Homer Laughlin…