My hands shake, indenting the lip of the ceramic cup I'm molding. I swivel and look at the other android artisans on the factory floor, robotic hands ablur ensuring each cup is perfect—and they ... [+]
We are nine when I discover I am the evil twin. We've just blown out the candles on our birthday cake. Our dad sets down the kitchen knife and heads around the corner to help mom grab bowls and ... [+]
Everyone loved Auntie Joe's cat T. She got him when he was just eight weeks old—a curious, friendly, fearless gray tiger. He was hilariously clumsy, too. When leaping onto a table, he'd usually ... [+]
Paul waits for Blake Biegler in the dusty field behind the school. Biegler is ten minutes late. He pokes his fingers through the chainlink, staring beyond the suicide barriers toward Golden Lakes. The ... [+]
When my kids were little, back in the late 1980s, we bought our new house and took on a bigger mortgage. I was a stay-at-home mom. After moving in, my husband John got permanently laid off from his ... [+]
"For even saintly folk will act like sinners / unless they have their customary dinners." Bertolt Brecht, The Threepenny Opera We decide to celebrate the Fourth of July at Parker's Dam. There's ... [+]
The house was dark. The air was cool. The air conditioner hummed in a soft timbre. The only source of light was the blue moon, illuminating through the window and onto my face. I couldn't help but ... [+]
The last apparition of Halley's Comet was in 1986, approaching Earth as close as 0.4 astronomical units. Halley takes a long journey to visit us. The comet follows an elliptical orbit that reaches ... [+]
Erin Beckett wasn't scared of most things. She loved roller coasters, and she was the designated bug killer at home—even with three older brothers. When the offense of the other team came speeding ... [+]
Not long ago, I spent a week reviewing the city's finest steak-houses, one medium-rare, truffle-crusted-wagyu after another. The week before was seafood week. More lobster bibs, crustacean claws ... [+]
Melanie waved at the reporter when he stepped into the coffee shop. Sipping her jasmine tea, she took in his lean frame. He looked so much younger, unmasked. "Thank you again for speaking with ... [+]
Chuck always ends up waxing poetic around his trainees. About how professional wrestling is a dance—a violent choreography of chokeholds and suplexes, timed to the tune of their bookers' ... [+]
A door slam later, Hannah stood in the rain, her back to Isabel's house. The rain felt heavier than it was, large plump droplets bouncing off the ground. They cooled her hot cheeks and dappled ... [+]
Hattie didn't mind the children. They were about the only people on earth she didn't mind. She heard the parents telling them to leave her alone, but her seemingly bottomless tin of cookies, which ... [+]
My life changed the day Cleopatra corporealized in the outdoor food court during our lunch rush. Corporealized. Bet you're surprised I know such a big word, but I do love me a good ghost story. Love ... [+]
Your baby is due in two weeks. Naturally, I'm over the moon about this, but I'm also feeling a bit sentimental . . . hence this letter. So here I am at the kitchen table, thinking about you and ... [+]
I placed the shiny red shape in the exact center of the table. Martín looked at it dubiously. "That's the strangest cherry I've ever seen. Whoever made it needs to get their printer calibrated ... [+]
I watched as one wave of people flowed off the train and another wave flowed on—just like the waves at the beach pushing and pulling on my toes. I wagged my feet as I remembered the sensation. I ... [+]