Paige stood in the middle of the long dirt road with her backside toward her grandparent’s farm. She crossed her arms and gazed upward to observe the darkening mass hovering overhead. Trepidation filled her. Storm clouds had formed a menacing hand with extended fingers that threatened to swoop down and grab ahold of her small, ...

The gingerbread cookie realized the sheet beneath his body had cooled to room temperature. He knew it was safe to sit up. His cooled, settled frame meant he was no longer in jeopardy of losing an appendage, or worse yet, his head. He lifted his flat, brown noggin, and looked left then right. His fellow ...

Tobias woke the next morning as the sun started to light the sky. The men packed up camp and hopped the first westbound train. They taught Willie the ways of the rails—the difference between a bum, a tramp, and a hobo. A bum was a no good, dirty, rotten thief that would rather steal from ...

I sit on my bed, shirtless and sweating and trying to ignore the pain that floods my legs. Grey smoke curls from my cigarette as I inhale its contents. It burns to ash and scorches my throat. The orange glow that pervades with each inward breath pierces the darkest folds of the night. I’m wide ...

“Well! Sounds like yer in a right big mess there, Wilburn,” Tobias said to him. The men looked at each other and nodded to one another, except one man. Owen Little shook his head. The men glared at him, and Little scowled back. “Dammit, Little,” Tobias said. Wilburn’s brow creased in confusion as he watched ...

Santa’s elf, Corlie, secretively known as Callous Corlie by others, finished getting ready for work. She stared into the mirror, then swiped her brown hair behind a pointy ear. After blowing a kiss at her reflection in the mirror, she headed to the kitchen. Aromas of coffee permeated throughout the single-story bungalow. Corlie filled a ...