One by one the hot sun dissolved the little water puddle’s friends away. Though the puddle had seen better days with clearer waters, it did not want to leave the earth like them. Being saturated with dirt was better than nonexistence. But a puddle cannot resist the sun. Bit by bit, the puddle …
Marjorie slides off her space suit. “Glenda, play: Home.” “Certainly dear,” says Glenda, her spaceship. Glenda’s red lights dim. Marjorie slides into her only remaining Earth dress, made of spider silk. Glenda’s mirror-scaled walls rotate and flash; rounded ceiling becomes sky, rounded walls become Marjorie’s meadow. Glenda’s vents rustle Marjorie’s hair like a spring breeze. Her …
Phelia hums as she plugs the tub. It’s the first time she’s alone in the house. She pours epsom salt in the bath and runs the water. Phelia hears the whispering as she lights the candles. It comes from the tub. She turns; it’s the trickling water. The way it burbles sounds like murmuring. If …
I hated my mom as a kid. Of course Dad went from happy to brooding; she lectured him all the time about eating candy. We were allowed some. Why wasn’t he? She’d scream and shame him anytime she suspected he’d had candy. At eight, I’d had enough. I gave my dad my jack-o’-lantern of Halloween …