Roland Nevins adjusted the waistband of his shorts, rearranged his gut. There was a second band of flab down there these days, the skin a...

The ink was dry, she could see that, but Army decided to give it another minute before folding the paper. Smudges wouldn’t do. Without a...

The first thing a baby can do is cry. Stimulus response, vocalised, after that first smack. Tears, and the wordless wail. That tap. Hush...

Your analogies are too cumbersome, Colin used to say. They should snap. Yours don’t snap. Colin could be a real drip. I don’t miss him...

CW: Hell, death, demons, alcohol. When we entered Hell, we got these little printouts that justified our damnation. The demon handing...

Nathaniel rose from a deep slumber to find himself lying on a black stone river bank, hearing only the sloshing of ice-cold water. The...

Where did you get this coffee – Jesus Christ – middle earth? We were sitting on the Canadian Shield which is one motherfucker of a rock –...

When I wake up at three in the morning it’s all I can do to not phone Harry. Hello he’d say as if he were trying to fog up the screen. I...

I’ll have an order of Happy Family with a side of pork fried rice. —And, for me . . . General Tso’s Chicken with a side of Lo Mein—and...

A skateboard dangles from Seth’s left arm, scuffed grip tape scraping his skin, the filthy wheels still spinning. With his right arm, he...

You only went and died. You said you would, but I didn't think you’d actually do it. Neither did Robbie. ‘Remember that time,’ he said,...

Maxwell stood alone at the abandoned bus stop. Wind blew across the thin fabric of his hospital gown, raising goose bumps along his...

Shirley checked her bag twice to see if she’d put tissues inside. The kitchen windows needed cleaning. She could do that when she...

My twin brother Clem had a club foot but could climb like you wouldn’t believe. He’d swoop up trees like we were on the moon and if a...

Throughout that whole hot summer, after Jolene found her mother dead, she heard the woman’s voice speak to her in desperate...

“Just wait until I show you what we got!” My father beamed excitedly as we drove from the airport to my family home. It wasn’t like my...

I learned to draw from my neighbour Harp we called him, although his name was Greg, but by the time he moved in across the street, the...

She heard the loud noise, moth-eaten words reaching her ears again this time. Sometimes she focuses on condensing her listening, other...

I was part of the joke as soon as I arrived: Nerve Rat had just gone big with their second album, Edge of Rain, and been on a world tour...

I am holding this huge ring and using what feels like every bit of my brain to try and remember what roman numeral XLVII stands for, but...