This was back in the days when all fauna were megafauna. An armadillo and sloth stood around talking to each other. Both were the size of modern-day elephants.      “This tough shell gives me some protection against predators, but not nearly enough,” said the armadillo.      “I don’t have a tough shell,” sighed the sloth, “but that […]

He didn’t see me when he arrived at the restaurant, but I recognized him from the picture my mother had shown me. It was her idea, to get back out there, to set me up with her coworker’s nephew. “Girl,” she’d said, “you just need to find the right man.”      At our table, while the […]

Often I would visit the path that ran through the greenbelt. It was full of harmless people like me, simple outdoor enthusiasts. Allegedly, a stalker once emerged from the trees and menaced young women with a knife, but that was several years ago, ancient history, water under the bridge. The city crew was always nearby, […]

She pushes her toys to the side and sits cross-legged on the floor. Other dolls and stuffed animals look down at her from the tops of her bed and dresser. Bored with them too, she rests her forehead against the yellow wall. She breathes and forgets where she is. She breathes and forgets her father […]

The 6:45 to Cleveland is, of course, delayed. Rolling her eyes, the woman retrieves her laptop from its sleeve to review the meeting notes for a seventh time. She pauses, pops a God-knows-how-old peppermint fished from the depths of her purse into her mouth, and that’s when she sees the girl: maybe eight years old […]