Morning Has Broken
It’s quiet when he opens his eyes in a shaft of bright light. He frowns, feels that the hollow next to him is barely warm, and that Drin must have tucked up the sheets around him. He feels a hot …
Conversation
Somebody Has the World’s Worst Sunburn
“Right,” Emma says briskly, and crosses the hotel room to the paper bags on the side table. She pulls out an interesting variety of grocery items and sundries, and carries some of them into the bathroom, opening packaging and dumping …
I Sing the Body Electric
Drin scrubs at his brows tiredly and wonders if it’s worth trying to volley another message off into the random reaches of the Internet. There’s no sign that his recent messages got back to teslamomma, who doesn’t always answer questions, …
Snakes & Ladders
“I don’t believe it!” Emma exclaims, laughing.
Dance looks at her unhappily, hands up in front of him, ready to fend it off.
She grabs a wad of garish rubber creatures out of the bin, and just holds it up, …
Collector Mania
“Oh, I got to show you my endangered pigs,” Fozzie says, stretching. “Ever heard of Choctaw hogs?”
Emma frowns, tapping her chin. “I have. Yes. One of the rare breed registries had some show event locally, we had a display …
Good Advice
“What I don’t get,” says the dark woman with the husky voice, pouring out pale yellow juice into tumblers full of ice cubes, “is why we all bin sittin’ here buttoned up for three weeks now, listening to bug-static here …
You Didn’t Ask
“Lacey,” yelled one of the kids, panting into the kitchen, “there’s a guy with a snake tail playing baseball with us and we won ’cause he hit lotsa homers!”
“Really?” the dark woman says placidly, stacking clean dishes on shelves. …
At the Swimmin’ Hole
They’re all standing on the banks of the waterhole, kids in various raggedy shorts and overalls, some babies-in-arms in little wet ruffled swimsuits, looking startled. A lost-looking group of the blocky-headed people are being herded along by a couple of …
The Heat is On
“Was that brand okay?” Drin says, scrubbing at his face sleepily. He’s sitting on the edge of the rumpled bed, hair sticking up, his knees all bony and his legs incredibly naked-looking. He smells powerfully of sweat and man and
You Can Keep Your Hat On
Emma is laying on her stomach on a sagging bed in a darkened hotel room with Dance’s hands moving smoothly up and down the muscles beside her spine, along the flare of bones in her hips, and around to the …