The man’s nails dig into my skin, leaving angry red crescents alongside the needle marks in my arms. My feet are folded under me, scraping against the floor as he drags me forward. The man is over six feet tall with a shaved head and stubble on his face, and he reeks of cigarettes. He […]
He woke up with a painful crick in his neck from where he had fallen asleep on the sofa. The bottle of whiskey that he had been drinking to celebrate his success of the night before had fallen from his hand while he slept and rolled across the carpet, its contents spilling out and soaking […]
I held the pumpkin while Xavier drew. Two diamonds for eyes, a semicircle for a mouth, and an egg-shaped nose. “Great job,” I said. He beamed. I nodded to the facilitator, a bespectacled brunette in her twenties. She came over and handed me a serrated knife. “Call me if you need help.” I thanked her. […]
It’s just a street, a city street. There’s no reason for him to be buttonholing strangers, grabbing their arms, saying, Don’t you see? And of course he doesn’t. But he must be imploring them with his eyes, because they keep veering away, a young woman in a gauzy white dress even crossing against traffic […]