Fiction

It was one a.m. Too late for coffee, yet my mother’s long coral nails tapped as she sipped a cup of sugared Nescafe to the music of Dolly Parton. Her…

In the quiet kitchen, Anne washes spinach and imagines slapping the hospice nurse. She pictures herself walking purposefully into the living room, stopping at the edge of the sofa that…

She’s skinny, this counselor to kids with anorexia. Her name is Eve. Today, it’s Strength Cards. First my daughter chooses what she thinks her strengths are, then I will. Eve…

Smiling Cadillac wide, Julia Roberts stares out from the television. She’s riding on top of an elephant somewhere — Thailand, maybe — and manages to look graceful, hair piled up,…

Janie settles back on her chaise lounge like a cat arranging herself for a nap. She’s just slathered baby sunscreen all over her toddler, Miranda. Miranda, brown curls springing out…

She paced the soccer field, wringing her hands, her eyes following her child. She kept yelling, “Go Blue Flames!” I dislike sports parents transferring their ambitions to their kids, but…

When she thinks I’m not looking, Katie chews her hair. It’s past her shoulders, and has a scraggly appearance much of the time. In my day it would have been…

Octavia is four years old and her hair is quite fine, honey brown, bangs. She has the largest eyes Serena has seen on a child since she lost her own…

He comes when you graduate from adolescent innocence, your departure marked by the ooze of blood and bodily fluids. In that one second, when you feel a part of you…

My son, Cooper, is standing by the monkey bars, oblivious to the small boy above him going hand over hand as his father spots. Cooper touches one of the support…

Olivia stands gripping the sink as if it will save her life. The taste of bile lingers even though she’s rinsed her mouth out three times. Her legs are wobbly…