Nov 9, 2023 | Uncategorized
I walked up the driveway to the top of a small hill in a nice, Minnesotan neighborhood every Thursday afternoon for piano lessons. When I reached the top and opened the front door, I slipped into another world. A curtain drew back from my black-and-white movie and...
Sep 27, 2023 | Uncategorized
It was macabre. A gothic children’s exhibit. A series of blackened and burnt structures had been cobbled together to form a methamphetamine miniature golf course in the center of nowhere. Jarette was on the border of Utah and Nevada just outside the small town of...
Aug 30, 2023 | Uncategorized
I stood in his bathroom with a bucket, a sponge, and a can of Ajax bleach. He was in the doorway. A strange and angular-looking middle-aged man staring at me through wire-rimmed glasses with a lascivious grin. My skinny body was nervous, but I was broke and I needed...
Jul 21, 2023 | Uncategorized
It was late September and I could feel winter coming. The leaves had changed color and the grass was nearly brown. Winter was always around the corner in Granite City. Snow often fell in October and stayed until May. At Westforest Elementary, teachers made us go...
Jul 6, 2023 | Uncategorized
We sat cross-legged on the colorful carpet in three rows. 30 small bodies looking straight ahead with young, innocent faces at Mrs. Kablutsen. She stood in front of an empty blackboard and seemed too old to be a kindergarten teacher. Mrs. Kablutsen looked like the...
