October 10, 2015 Sunday mornings in October meant getting up early to work at the Hilti Ballfields. Dad served as the head groundskeeper there, making sure that the fields were in order for the little league games. He hired my siblings and I to walk the fields an hour before dawn to pick up the ...

Sunlight bright,the air brisk,snow blanketsthe dead, frozen ground. I shuffle through the gateway ofAmerica’s famous farm store.My love goes one way,I dodder the other. There,in the middle aisle,two galvanizedwater troughs,filled with colorful pullet chicks.Heat lamps warmingtheir tiny bodies. It is there,Little baby,your fragile body coveredwith fluffy black feathers, you lay,gasping for air. Your trough mates,peck ...

A Goodeville, Illinois Story Read other stories dealing with Goodeville, Illinois:  Short Story: The Woman In Black | Short Story: “Good Morning, Zombies.” | Short Story: River Stone Love | Short Story: First Day of School| Short Story: Henry Blaise Meets the Babysitter   I never believed in ghosts. I always thought they were a figment of a crazy person’s ...

** Trigger Warning – Physical abuse/attack, Death/loss ** Lindsey’s friends warn her to stay out of the old cemetery when night falls on Hallows Eve. They claim it becomes a spiritual conduit and that a malicious entity appears. She ponders whether or not to heed her friends’ warnings as she maneuvers her red Jeep along ...

It has come to the point where I can no longer watch the news. Just opening my local news app each morning seeing the horror sickens me. Each and every day, there is at least one story about the unbelievable violence a child has gone through. Enough is enough. Violence against children has become an ...

Josephine Blaise picks up a black eyeliner from her makeup counter. I need to make these eyebrows darker. And now, for the eyes. She thought while moving the brush down to her lashes. I need smokier gray eyeshadow. “Looking good,” Josephine says leaning back to study both eyes. Blood red lipstick will look great. Josephine scratches ...

**Trigger Warning: The following fictional work contains school violence, bullying, and murder.   Halloween is my favorite time of year. October is the only month out of the entire year that I feel like I can be myself. The other 11 months of the year, wearing black nail polish and obsessing over the latest season ...

“Jesus Christ, I didn’t want you to choke the kid. Just fuck him up a little bit.” Another man emerged from the couch in the living room. His blonde hair was slicked back perfectly, and with his all black everything outfit, he looked like he just stepped out of Cry Baby. “Well, ‘fuck him up ...

While I was sipping chamomile tea from a styrofoam cup and lying on the mustard-colored couch during what my shirk had referred to as “one of our most productive sessions yet” in July, Laura and I decided that it was best for me to “unplug” for a little while. So after living off Ramen noodles ...

When my Dad died, I was shocked to hear that the beneficiary had been changed on his life insurance policy. When my aunt helped him fill out this paperwork, he had her put my Grandmother, my younger sister, and myself, his oldest daughter. Yet, sometime after my Grandmother’s death and my father’s heart attack and ...