1. Janie

When I was sixteen, my dad's new wife and her daughter, Mary Ann, moved in, so I had to get out. I found a... more

At some point, the people in their thirties and forties decided to go one of two ways: dog fighting, or dog grooming. It was a simple... more

On the way home, Jill pulls through Dairy Queen and orders a burger and a butterscotch sundae. Her boyfriend orders the same thing, three... more

Shopping

I was sitting at the kitchen table, it was morning, the light was pale and fine, he was messing about, making something... more

In less than an hour, the ferry was at half-speed, the wind had died and the magnificent flora of Cane Island was in full view. They... more

Elias was a banker, so we left with more than most. $1,600 to spend at the outfitters—three yoke of oxen, 2000 pounds of food,... more

Meine Liebe

It got to where I couldn't stop talking about him, though our relationship had to be secret — there was no other... more

In God's Country

Camping in the northern part of the state, two guys and a girl woke to the sound of what they thought was a... more

The boy mastered the alphabet, but the other boys were playing soccer. The boy mastered... more

It's Christmas Eve, our birthday's less than an hour away, and, per Tannen family tradition, it's Davie's and my first night... more

The winter I turned twenty-seven, I followed a woman who said she might love me to a small town in Northwest Pennsylvania, a go-between... more

He could not look at the dog's eyes, light brown, like the sky before it started to rain. "Come on," Vassil said. The dog slowly followed him... more

1.

The sign is taped to a post and weathered and tattered as it is, it would be easy to believe that it has been there for... more

Conversation

She had nine faces already, and each time she began to talk a new one was added. "How does she manage to do that?"... more

My boyfriend and I have sex and when we're finished he holds me close and whispers into my ear, I just date-raped you. What do you do... more

I bought a storefront in town, a Walgreen's that kicked the bucket some months back. The townspeople speculated on what I'd turn it into.... more

In a walk-in closet, my father's ties were exactly six centimeters apart on wooden dowels. I gently touched the gaps between his ties... more

We'd just eaten a steak dinner. I'd handled the salad and the baked potatoes, my husband had grilled the steaks. Bottle of wine on the table,... more

Sumatra, Indonesia, 1963

The hibiscus hedge is the boundary line the girl is not supposed to cross. Sometimes, for something to... more

Those days I believed in Body over Mind. I believed Mind followed Body because I knew matter could think. I was a cook in this little... more

They think I don't hear their whispers, but I do. Even with a bathroom between our bedrooms, all I have to do is put my ear to the wall... more

I met her on the corner of a street and an avenue. "We didn't fix anything," she told me. She was no-nonsense, a fast-walker,... more

A man had many things hanging off of his body. There were two arms, two legs, a hose. Mostly though there were a number of barbed hooks,... more

It reminds me of the swimming pool game when I was a child, eyes closed, calling, and the others answering as I struggled, not knowing how... more

My mother is in every room of her house. The kitchen keeps her fingerprints in the flour jar, her lipstick stains on the wine... more