Deep into the summer in year two of the pandemic, New York City’s piquant vibe of menace had curdled into a dank atmosphere of dread. ...

Cosimo was looking distractingly handsome. We were celebrating his 75th birthday that day, at the Party Palazzo, and I know he likes that...

Alan stepped out of the Land Rover and peered down the long driveway. After jackhammering over three hundred miles of washboard roads, he...

Yesterday sadness hit me in the condiment aisle, my cart still empty save the unseasonal raspberries I will forget in the fridge, watch...

The nurse will hear her say something biting and reassure me that it’s the dementia. It makes them say things they don’t mean. But I’ll...

I’m embarrassed to be seen with him. He is shorter than me by at least six inches and has a lot of hair that sticks straight up on his...

It was completely wrong to be riding in the front seat next to Raúl. It was inappropriate. Perhaps improper was a better term due to...

I suppose you think it’s funny, that my friends call me Madman, or you think I’m going to be funny, or do crazy things, or belong on...

Sometimes, I wonder which stories are really mine to tell. Take, for instance, the night Raul thought the devil had climbed inside his...

Bert swung down the hill road, careful to place the rubber tips of his crutches on sand that had been scattered over the hard snow-packed...

Raul searched obituaries and wrote down names of funeral homes and cemeteries for almost a year. He tried making sense of it all but...

“We can compute an ephemeris for it,” I suggested. “What is that?” “It’s charting the path of a celestial object.” So I collected paper,...

He was somewhere on the Oregon coast, heading north on his bicycle with the wind and rain in his face. 17 years in the desert and now...

My father took a picture of me with Santa Claus so he could remind me over and over again who was to blame when I didn’t get what I...

Early mornings the birds were hungry and bold. The ibises landed on the netting above the flamingo pond and dipped their curved beaks...

You open the door and step inside. Across the room, an old lady sits behind a large desk. Unlike the concrete columns and open air of the...

Elixir He took the pills dutifully. She thought they were cyanide. Turned out to be Cialis. She decided to give the old bastard a second...

Jesus Christ Throws Himself a Surprise Birthday Party To Interrogate Who Stole His Tupperware Lid He lent the portable containers to...

Average Interviewer: What inspired your short story “An Average Short Story on Something I Have Very Little Direct Experience With?”...

For the first time in his adult years – not that he often thought of himself as an adult, or made much of an effort to behave like one –...