Lot Fourteen
The man sitting on the overturned bucket beside the fresh hole was Marcus Batiste, in a clean work shirt and muddy boots, with a spade across his knees and his …
Lot Fourteen Read MoreBlog
Overdue Atlas
“He is at my desk right now, Doris,” whispered Mrs. Vogt on the telephone, “and he is asking for the gray atlas. His name is Gerald Pruitt.” I stood in …
Overdue Atlas Read MoreThe Brass Key
Wrapped in a rotten feed sack on the bottom shelf of the old safe lay a double barreled shotgun, its stock cracked and its barrels dark with rust, and tucked …
The Brass Key Read MoreThe Notice
In the next line, typed so hard the letters cut into the paper, my grandfather had written: The truck driver was drunk. I smelled it on him. I saw the …
The Notice Read MoreGold Impala
The first thing I saw in the dim light of the trunk was a red coffee can, the old Folgers kind with the plastic lid, sitting on a folded blanket …
Gold Impala Read MoreBack Door Open
The white haired man in the good suit was Dale Whitt, and I had known him all my life. He had served on the county commission for twenty years, shaken …
Back Door Open Read MoreThree Rings
“She told me where he was,” Eunice had said on the back steps of the church, “and honey, you have been walking over him every day of your life.” I …
Three Rings Read MoreCorner Booth
“Hello, this is Tasha,” said the young voice on the phone, and when I told her my name and read her the number written on the napkin of the Dairy …
Corner Booth Read MoreForty One Presents
The tiny bracelet in the palm of my hand was cracked and yellowed, with its little white beads strung on a thread of plastic, and the letters on the beads …
Forty One Presents Read MoreRoom Upstairs
The woman who called up the stairs was not Gina Pardue, and she was not a stranger, either, though I had never in my life heard her voice. She stood …
Room Upstairs Read More