A few weeks after arriving in M—, weeks during which I encountered many locals but made no lasting connections, I decided to join a long-distance runn...
Spiders are as unique and varied as humanity, if I may be so bold to say. Their behavior is more predictable, so with just a few close looks you can learn many ...
On a sultry summer night, Timothee Chalamet showed up at the doorstep. Traces of sand particles on his curly black hair. His ash-grey warrior-like outfit carrie...
It’s my birthday today. I am now officially 39 years old, unemployed, and still living in my family home along with my mother. I have no friends and any form of...
When I needed a special service, I thought of Rick. Rick was odd: a fear addict, for want of a better term. He was notorious in the crowd he ran with for the qu...
Istanbul is not only known, as the ignorant foreigner might think, for its many mosques, its syrupy pastries, or its myriad of grand steam baths and even grande...
It was 10:34 on a Tuesday morning when the news came out. Less than an hour later, the headlines had already gone global, leaving the internet aghast, full of q...
The truth is he was a lousy fuck. Not that you’d know it from his demeanor. Like the way he would strut around stark-naked right in front of me and yank the fru...
Everyone carries a ghost in their back pocket. There are no rules about how many you can own but most people find enough companionship with one, perhaps two. No...
“Excuse me, sir.” The man in pink hoodie approached me when I stepped out of the subway. His eyes got greener and creepier up close, and he looked shorter than ...
High Card Hand
Brushing up on the usual ways of losing as you do— and do well by local reputation— this is the worst hand, worst of the sorriest bunc...
The letters began arriving by the dozens shortly after my picture appeared in the paper, sealed with lipstick blots and doused in acrid perfume. “It’s called hy...
Because you think you just might die. And because—if you’re being honest—you want the lies. Of course you need the answers, too, but just the ones that let you ...
What was your reaction when you learned the universe was a computer program? Was it despair? Solipsism? A yearning for the old world? Or are you one of those ho...
In Etta’s wardrobe there is a typewriter. She can hear the clack clack clack ping! while she tries to sleep. In her dreams, its ribbons coil her up and smudge h...
We drove out to Fig’s place to see about Holiday, who owed Vaughn some money, I guess. They were on the outs again, but Holiday was still crashing there. I coul...
Mario was a regular, self-employed plumber with Italian roots, an amusing, high voice, and a ludicrous mustache that somehow worked, lent just enough man to his...
I’m watching the other passengers board the plane and counting every pair of Lululemon leggings I see. Sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s true-Lulu and what’s a...
Midway down Joseph Avenue, I was hailed down by a motivational patrol car. I pulled my vehicle to the curb and waited as the motivational officer made his way o...
A gust of wind had knocked down the bouquet overnight. In the morning, I found the flowers on the floor, white linen ribbon cinching the stems dirty and wet, th...
I.
The best place in Riverton for beef is Arlo’s. Just ask Denise Gross. She won’t go anywhere else for beef. Did you know that Denise and her husban...
At her nearest branch of the Cyprus Post Office, Nefeli has two simple tasks: to mail a letter and receive a parcel.
There are five free tills. The three emp...
A man came across an interesting advertisement in the newspaper. Below a photograph of three women in aprons and hairnets (the advertisement was for a local san...
I was in the breakroom at work, failing to remove the cellophane top from a Jell-o cup, when I realized I was missing my right index finger.
I was skeptical....
Mum invited Ian to come to my place this afternoon. She only told me when he was on his way. He doesn't have a brother or sister, she explained, and I nodded. I...
And this is how I knew we were a marginalised people. Not the sticky floor, not the questionable arrangement of outdoor seating, not the wafts of urinal cake le...
Uncle drove from house to house in his gauche sedan. No one opened their door to greet the man in person. For the sake of death, however, concessions had been m...