There wasn’t another house like Marjorie’s on the block. All the other houses had become more angular, there was more cement and raw wood. Marjorie had never fit in, not since the day she moved in forty years ago. She couldn’t even sign for her own mortgage back then, she had to have her brother do it. It was one of the last kind things he did before turning his back on the family. She’d Read more
“I don’t get it.” J. had a slightly queasy look. Kyle realized he had made a horrible horrible mistake. “I… I… shit,” he couldn’t find words. J.’s expression hadn’t changed. Kyle swallowed a big breath. J. was shaking her head. Slowly. It was all so much worse because of how slow she was moving and not speaking. As if she was incapable of speech. But then she spoke. “Um, I’m sorry… I… I gave you Read more
I was a rare case. The gene didn’t present itself until my Junior year. My mom thought it was hormones, I am a late bloomer in all things, but it turns out my powers were finally blossoming. We actually call it blossoming, but most witches blossom by the time they are three. If you haven’t demonstrated anything special by then, well you’re eventually sent to live with some distant ‘relative’. My mom had a soft Read more
It started when Jeremiah was five and today is his twelfth birthday. His stepmother Carmen has offered him a check for a thousand dollars to cease and desist with his infuriating swear jar. Carmen has grossly miscalculated Jeremiah’s financial acumen. He hasn’t used an actual jar for three years. He keeps the money in a cashbox under his bed, when her reaches five hundred dollars he has his mother deposit it to his account. He Read more
Who still says that? Jessica can’t believe he just said that. Right now? Jess hasn’t watched TV in ages; she overhears everyone going on about the current rage of butlers, British wit and fantasy worlds that straddle past and future. Jess wishes for a way to straddle present and future, to know this moment will bridge to the future she imagined. Because right now, she is stuck, like a whale on a beach, exposed. What is Read more
Keely isn’t going to tell but she wants everyone to know. But they must know, they must be able to see it. Can’t they? Isn’t there a visible change? She imagined a new hue to her aura. Keely didn’t really talk in terms of auras but she remembered seeing that book in her Tante Marie’s room one summer. There was a woman on the cover with long hair and closed eyes. She was standing Read more
It happened when Tabitha was nine. Actually she was pretty close to ten. It happened at her cousin Samantha’s party. Their birthdays were three weeks apart. When they were little they shared their parties, then Samantha developed her gluten allergy. There were always extra details to make up for the cookies that crumbled to sawdust and the cake that kids left abandoned all over the Rec room. At Samantha’s tenth birthday, there was a Read more
They had been in bed for twenty-four hours. Literally twenty-four hours! Like characters in a low-budget movie, where the girl with matted hair and smeared eyeliner is impossibly hot, and they guys is addict skinny but has great skin and a smile that slays you. Just like that, except Jonas has had problem skin since eighth grade (his sister regularly sends him products she finds on the Shopping Channel) and his smile? Well let’s just Read more