The rock where my sister died dominated the landscape like a giant defrocked mushroom.

My parents were standing beside me, waiting for my response as I looked up at the seaweed and the striations. I wasn't sure what they wanted me to feel.

"It...   [Read more...]

The disco ball was turning. The lights were spinning, flashing, pulsing. The speakers were pumping noise into the atmosphere, waves of vibration that shook the air, slammed into the walls, broke back in upon each other, collided and crashed.

Ou...   [Read more...]

"Lola."

"Lola?"

"Lola."

"Of all the songs ever written, his favourite is Lola? You can't be serious."

"Dead serious."

"Wow. That's a guy who really needs a friend."

"I know....   [Read more...]

Bobby had lived in his imagination as a child. Within the universe of his mind, he was an action hero, an iron-willed daredevil. He could meet any challenge, snatch victory from the jaws of any defeat, bravely pull off any stunt.

Now that he was o...   [Read more...]

"I'm a monster," said my son, dangling my old Nikon camera behind his back.

"I can see that," I said. "What's your special monster power?"

"Scary faces!" he said. "I can make a scary face that makes y...   [Read more...]

An aura surrounded her.

He couldn't describe it, couldn't explain it, couldn't put it into words. It was beauty.

She raised her hands, opened her mouth, flexed her diaphragm, and completely, irrevocably drew him into herself.

Her song per...   [Read more...]

The dapper man picked up a penny.

Then he picked up a dime.

"Which of these is worth more?" he asked the children arrayed in three neat rows on the floor in front of him.

"The dime!" they chimed in chorus.

"Very good!...   [Read more...]

There was blood on my pillow.

My nose was dry. I hadn't bit my cheek. I hadn't somehow lost a tooth. A quick examination of my skull told me that it remained intact.

Oh, duh, I have DNA-Vision. I forget sometimes.

I scanned the blood on my p...   [Read more...]

Until now, she'd never thought of herself as pretty.

Sure, there were lots of positive adjectives she would have included in a description of herself. Clever, athletic, determined, sensitive, ambitious, caring, discerning, admirable.

Ok, ma...   [Read more...]

Fault.

It wasn't mine. It wasn't his. I'm not sure it was anyone's, really.

I think it considered itself its own fault, kind of a Frank Sinatra "I did it my way," "I'm my own man" sort of thing. No one was ...   [Read more...]