Fiction

Relentless Heart, The Fiction Week Literary Review, Spring 2024

“They say I died. For three whole minutes, not a breath, not a heartbeat, just a silent pause. Long enough for my mother to do what she does best—jump in and punch me right in the chest.”

Beneath the Surface, Moria Literary Magazine, December 11, 2023, Issue 12

“Pinpricks dance across the back of my neck. I should find my way to the surface.
If only I could take this with me: peaceful blue calmness, muffled sounds, freedom from gravity.”

Something Old, Something New, Down in the Dirt v 212 “The Beach at Night”, Oct. 2023

“His best friend, Justin, is the first to come around as the early morning light scatters across wet pavement like shards of broken glass.”

Something Good, Perceptions Magazine, 2023

“One look at Monique’s steely eyes reminds me that getting on with our lives might not be easy, but staying in place keeps hurt circling like slimy, mucky water at the bottom of a slow drain.”

Simple Complications, Summerset Review, Summer 2023

“You’re like an oyster hoarding its pearl, hiding it from daylight,” he says, brushing his thumb against my cheek.”

The Pact, Appalachian Review, Fall 2022  

“Roy slides his hand around my waist and yanks me in for a hug. He folds his body around mine as if we’ve never been apart, and the familiarity of it all, right down to his aftershave, makes my spine tighten like it might snap. He doesn’t get to have any more of me. I pat his shoulder much like a wrestler taps out.”

The Sweetest Things, The Coachella Review, October 18, 2022

“She left a box of half-eaten chocolates sitting on his dresser. Waxy and whitened along the edges, they looked inedible, if not fake. He didn’t bother to confirm what he knew to be true: the expiration date had long come and gone.”

Sea Glass, Mixed Mag August 5, 2022

“When she was a small girl, her dad always took her here. Just the two of them, following the shoreline’s curve to rawness, where the crowds fell away and soft sand gave way to rocks and broken shells, finding a quiet place to cast his line. That was before her mother ruined everything.”

Back to the Start, Tulsa Review 2022

“I keep my eyes shut but the sun’s clawing fingers poke at me until my left eye cracks open, and the light hits me like a split to my skull. Why something so beautiful should hurt me so much, I just can’t understand.”

The Trustee, Five on the Fifth,Volume 5, Issue Nine

“For the past month edginess settled on me like the city’s dust, motion the only remedy to shake it off. Once my refuge, my apartment in lower Manhattan became a cage for me to pace. The spring ritual of throwing open the windows seemed more like an invitation for the dead to leave a chalky mark on my things.”

In the Fold, Potato Soup Journal, April, 2021

“The wooden rockers offer their curved backs to the street, leaning to face the cheerful yellow aluminum siding; except for one chair.  My grandfather sits, bundled in a red and black plaid flannel jacket, slamming his feet against the floor causing the substantial chair to hiccup.  Every time he stomps down harder, as if he is trying to take flight.”