She breathed a little easier since they were allowed to travel on one passport through Europe. She would no longer stand out as a single traveler with all her data exposed. Going from Goldstein to Silver was a step in the right direction when they married, and now, as a couple, he was the main … More Country of Birth
When she was your age, your grandmother earned her family’s living by sleeping with men in a place called the Pale of Settlement. At the end of her life she slept across an ocean from that world, in the same bed where her husband died. When you were sent to look after her, you offered … More Rebekah
My father finished the war in a forced labor camp. “I saved many people; they were weak, I was strong; I carried my share of stones, their share of stones; no one knew…They lived to see the end of the war,” he told me once, eyes glistening. My father was a simple man. A couple … More Job
On those nights when a sound, a light, a dream tore him into wakefulness, he’d sit up or stand, even flee the room bearing memories he couldn’t share. David, I’d say, David, you’re home now, it’s OK. Of course, it wasn’t. After his terror subsided, he’d welcome my arms, his breathing slowing, his trembling diminished. … More Just Fallujah
“I got my Metal of Honor.” He smiled, sliding the beer over. And before I could correct him he knocked on his head. “I have also the other one, there.” I opened the drawer. “Gulf. Iraq. Afghanistan. Went there to protect ours, not to kill theirs.” “And this one?” I pointed in awe to a … More Metals
a lump in the rainbow agent orange Your civilian lawyer, considered one of the top legal minds in the state, would not have blessed your case with more than a random glance if not for the international flavor tempting his scholarly palate. Someday you’ll tell your grandnephews and nieces another story concerning the learned man. … More Money
Day 1, Earth: “…the world woke up 24 hours later, exactly as they threatened. Everything seems covered by yellow, pollen-like dust…” Day 2, Earth: “…the aliens have departed…good riddance, one can’t live under a dictatorship, be it of peace. Humanity will find its own way…Preliminary reports define the yellow dust as inert, no risk to … More Yellow Dust
Fear creeps up the aisle. An old lady asks, What are the biblical implications of this? Temperatures rise, glaciers melt, rivers flood, viruses leap from monkeys to humans, linger on the hand you use to wipe away a tear as your husband walks away. Despite the piles of pills you take, the half-caf, almond milk … More Shopping
If Davina’s Donuts hadn’t run out of cochineal you might have lived longer. Blood red from crushed insects. Looking at pure white frosting, cold memories of being quashed by you tingled at the back of my brain, ice cream on teeth. I asked for plain ones, knowing you’d insist on pink. As I walk down … More Carrier
“…muerto…”, dead. Meaningless sounds hitting dysfunctional eardrums after powerful muscles ejected me from my conceiver’s body. A scream. “…cien mil…”, hundred thousand. Sounds. Meaningless. Grew up in Texas, son to a rich family. The ghastly truth hit me age nineteen, marrow transplant, incompatibility. My mother confessed. I landed in Spain, traced the priest, the doctor … More Blood Ties
The Centifictionist 
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