In the hills of ancient Argos, Vasileios watched spindly flames dance upon the pyre. The heat clawed his moist cheeks as tears continued to spill from his copper eyes. Orange and yellow swallowed the delicate profile of his beloved wife, Thaleia, reducing her skin to pallid ash. One week ago, that skin had been rosy and plump, free from the illness that took her. How could life be so unfair? Vasileios never asked the gods for anything. Begging for their favor seemed like a fu

It had been two months since Deputy Dani Bruce joined the Kendall County Sheriff’s Department. Dani, a woman had spent her entire life in law enforcement, had never expected to find herself in the least populated county in Maryland. Yet, she had managed to upset the right people in Baltimore City, leaving her limited employment options. She wasn’t happy to be living in the back end of nowhere, but at least she was still wearing a badge. October was upon the Sheriff’s Depart

These bloodshot eyes grow tired, but I’m afraid of what they might miss if I were to blink. I want to gaze at her profile, to memorize...

“Your parents are going to have a meltdown,” Danielle sighed. Her twin nephews, eight-year-olds Joshua and John, cheered. Danielle shook...

The wind blows through the dark like a Subway train. I pull the collar of my coat around my cheeks to combat the chill, but it does...

The carnations by the window were wilted and brown. Gertrude, a woman pushing the age of ninety, gazed at their simple vase with a...

“I’m not known for having great ideas. Seriously, you’re looking at the guy who inspired the warning labels on most household products....

It was hardly the Valentine’s Day people were expecting. A heavy downpour fell from the dark sky as a frigid wind whipped through the...

“I’m going to give you a crooked smile,” Otto informed his pumpkin. The tiny laboratory assistant stretched his wonky spine, sighing....

April is reaching its end. Branches are swallowed by green leaves as white blossoms drift to the streets like snowflakes. Calm mornings...

The restaurant manager prepared for Valentine’s Day the same way a soldier prepared for a battle. He restocked his supplies, called in...

Flakes cascade from the blustery Sky like water spilling over rock, Covering bare branches and empty Earth in an embrace as pure as Her...

As snow fell indolently from the starry sky, the clock tower chimed six times. It rang throughout every hollow in Christmas Village. The...

It was your idea. Those words ring in my head like wind chimes. The noise is shrill, resonating. I dwell on the echoes. They seem to go...

It had been a while since Tracey had a decent chicken sandwich. The locals recommended a dive downtown, and that autumn Saturday felt...

Her nose was the hardest part. It had the slightest curve like the bending of branches in the breeze. When he held her close, he walked...

The hat smelled like her Great Uncle Edgar. It was a difficult odor to describe, a sort of cross between burnt bread and wet dog, and it...

“Those sunglasses aren’t fooling anybody.” Eleanor pushed the aviators to the bridge of her nose, scowling. “Would you keep it down? I...

Once upon a time, there was a shack that nobody dared to visit. It was home to a strange creature named Brutta Wartsnout, a witch who...

Of all the musicians in the world, Johnny Cash understood him the best. He spent hours listening to "A Boy Named Sue" on his stereo,...