KNITTER The family gathered on the front porch, their niece laughing at the stories Aunt Pearl spun, pleading for one more before bed, giggling the words out: “Tell the one where you guys first met.” Pearl remembered the day twenty blissful years ago when she walked into the fabric store and spotted Kitty, the resident knitter. […]
JUGGLER The Lion Tamer had been with the Bearded Lady since Birmingham, six cities ago. Rolling into Laredo, he heard the familiar howling from her tent and rushed in to find her breathlessly staring into her compact, rubbing rouge into a facial scar. You can cover a scar with makeup, but you can’t cover your […]
INVESTIGATOR Investigator Zambrano shifted his weight in the chair, striving for comfort in an uncomfortable situation. Worst part of the job. “No easy way to say this, ma’am, except to tell you we located your car, and the man inside, in the driver’s seat, he was killed. He had -” “NoNoNoNoNo,” Patricia said, speaking over […]
HOUSEKEEPER For the fifth time this shift, Betty Jean knocked on Room 12, back of the building, far from the freeway. Do Not Disturb dangled from the doorknob, but it was near seven o’clock in the evening and the room hadn’t been cleaned yet. Ominous, was that the word people use? Gloria, motel manager on […]
GARDENER Mary Cavanaugh brushed the red hair from hey eyes, glanced at the big blue circle on her calendar, and allowed herself a smile. Only two more days. It had been arduous with six kids, but she knew life was about to change dramatically. Seven years, the insurance company had told her, and if there’s […]
I’m participating in the 2016 A to Z Blogging Challenge. My theme: Six-Sentence Stories. Hemingway is credited with introducing six-word stories (“For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.”) and since I can’t steal his idea, I’m taking the easier road with six-sentence stories. That said, it’s a much tougher road than I’d initially thought. Day 5. Comes forth, […]
CARPENTER The unshaven slob shoves my mother aside and slides his Smith & Wesson .38 into my ribs from behind, demanding my wallet. “How tall are you?” I ask, measuring my enemy without getting a look at him. “Six-two,” he spits out, “what the hell you need to know that for?” I ask a second […]
JD Frain 