Story Telling

PART 1 Every morning in our rundown Texas rental, my husband dragged me to the backyard, tied my hands to the porch pillar, and lashed my pregnant belly while yelling, …

They Laughed in the Hospital Hallway. My Old Phone Was Still Recording. Read More

PART 1 The cold metal edge of the checkout counter hit beneath my ribs, and for one stunned second, I tasted pennies and blood. Then a white flash burst behind …

He Slammed Me Into the Counter Over a $14 Blanket. The Store Saw Everything. Read More

Part 1 At twenty to six on Halloween, the corner of Westerly and Ash in Galena Bend, Illinois, smells of woodsmoke, cold cider, and the damp sweetness of wet leaves …

The Westerly Pit Read More

Part 1 The water in the baptismal font at St. Brendan’s in Greyhaven, Iowa, is always colder than you expect. I have stood beside it for forty-one years, and I …

The Stand-In Godfather Read More

Part 1 On the last Sunday in July, the evening service at Bethel Methodist in Vesper Ridge, New York, begins on the south lawn, as it has begun every July …

The Tower That Came With Its Own Bells Read More

Part 1 At eleven at night the basement of the old Tarrow County Utilities building in Ellis Falls, Wisconsin, smells of radiator dust, toner, and the damp concrete that rises …

The Five-Dollar Credit Read More

Part 1 On the first cold morning of October, the back room of the Tenney Grain Cooperative smells the way it has always smelled: dry paper, machine oil from the …

The Seed Catalog Read More

Part 1 At a quarter past two on a Tuesday afternoon in October, the lunch rush at Rasmussen’s Diner in Tolliver, Montana, has thinned to two ranch hands arguing about …

Card Nineteen Read More

Part 1 My son pointed at his front door and told me, “Either you apologize to Khloe right now or you walk out of my house and never come back.” …

He Pointed at the Door and I Walked Through It Read More