At the sound of a tentative rat-tat-tat, Jessica peeled open her eyes. An emaciated drummer boy dressed in a scarlet uniform stood by the lawn chair opposite her. His gold epaulets were crumpled over his thin shoulders. His small pinched face peered from under a crimson cap. “I’m fading from neglect,” he said, in a … Continue reading
Category Archives: Other Worlds
The Boy
When the house key clicked in the lock, Diane hesitated. With Tom’s departure, she had hoped that the house would be empty of both the quick and the dead. No such luck. Instead of the reassuring sight of the cluttered hallway, the long corridor appeared distended, as if viewed through the wrong end of binoculars. … Continue reading
The Look-Alike
Laura hadn’t seen such eyes—watery, blue and riveting—since her great aunt died 20 years earlier. The resemblance—particularly the popping eyes—was uncanny and unnerving. Lured down the street behind the double, after five blocks, Laura was enticed into the public library. She sunk unto a chair near the ‘look-alike’ and, head down, glanced at an open … Continue reading
The Circus and the Library
When the circus married the library, she was only a small fair. Once the nuptials were performed, however, audience demands increased. The circus, always stumbling to satisfy, expanded and diversified. With frantic compliance, she added more and more acts. Although frightened of heights, the circus cared enough to include a trapeze act. Clothed in a … Continue reading
Lips Sealed
Although they were sitting side by side she was as distant from him as she was from the animals at the zoo. Some scientists argued that other animal species could communicate with one another but Bimble doubted that was the case. As it was, she couldn’t even converse with this other type of human. But … Continue reading
The Circle
As far back as her memory stretched, she was just one of many clustered around the fire. At first, the circle had been small, but, as she grew older, it widened to include all those who brought warmth into her life. These were not people on television or on the web or in the newspaper; … Continue reading
Words, Words, Words
It had been a day entangled in language. And not their language: the language of those who would destroy the earth. But they relied on it, it was the only tongue they all understood and, if the vote tomorrow was to favor a possible future, the wording had to satisfy every parochial interest. Time to … Continue reading
The Third Option
She and Rita hadn’t been in touch for at least six months. Always one thing or another: new brakes for the car, babysitting the grandchild, blood pressure requiring attention and, most annoying, the condo scaffolding under blue netting driving her out of the building. Similar trivial events had kept her away from her usual social … Continue reading
The bay
My mission may be futile. Perhaps I imagined the sighting. But the poignant call and the loon’s hesitant plunge persuaded me that I had, after all these years, found my grandmother. And this time I will not be diverted. This time I will honor my promise. It was by chance that I came to this … Continue reading
The Bird According to Jack
Jack-Be-Nimble—seventeen, energetic, restless—stretched back on the grassy bank, his feet dangling in the brook. The cool white water bubbled past, tugging his toes and ticking his arches. Eyes closed, he savored the sound of the water gurgling and the murmur of the wind in the leaves. He studied the soft grey clouds floating across the … Continue reading