The Dark Corner of the Backyard I. The Solemn Warning Alex had only been in the quiet suburban house for two weeks, but…
THE EIGHT-YEAR-OLD’S EVIDENCE CHAPTER I: THE COMA AND THE PERFECT PLAN Anya Vu lay still and silent. To the outside world, she was…
“He Just Wanted the Chicken Nuggets” When my husband came back from deployment, I thought life would snap back to normal.We’d eat dinners…
Under the scorching sun of a Texas summer in 1996, when the asphalt roads on the outskirts of San Antonio shimmered like a…
The Last Flame Over Louisville The evening sky over Louisville was painted gold when UPS Flight 2976 taxied down the runway. From the…
The air in the solicitor’s office was thick with grief and thinly veiled greed. We were gathered for the reading of Grandma Elara’s…
The city of Houston hummed, a relentless beast of steel and concrete, but in its quieter corners, life unfolded in a different rhythm.…
The first time she saw the mansion, Ella thought it looked like a glass mountain. Everything about it—its walls, its gates, even the…
I woke to the taste of dirt and blood.The sky was below me. For a few seconds, nothing made sense — the pines…
The dinner celebrating Clara and Edward’s tenth anniversary was held at an exclusive, opulent restaurant. Golden chandeliers cast a warm glow over the…