Inflatable Man

Excerpt

Twenty-three years ago, I found an inflatable man in the back seat of a Boston taxi. He had been deflated, but something in his Gallic expression drew me closer. Was it the frank, friendly gaze, or his easygoing smile? He wore nothing but a pair of swim trunks; a curl of black indicated chest hair. He was a swim toy, nothing more.

Originally published in Boston Literary Magazine.

Primal Scream

Excerpt

It all began with the DeAngelos’ hot tub. Everyone they knew had to go see it. Clothes came off, and wedding rings. My parents were over there all the time.

Originally published in The Pinch.

After the Accident

Excerpt

Nearly three years had passed, but the wail of an ambulance whirling closer drove the oxygen from her lungs. Andrea stood on the playground of The Little Caterpillar Day Care Center in Boston, two thousand miles away from her other life, hoping the vehicle would turn. Closing her eyes, she felt it hurtle past like a tornado. In its wake, she envisioned a furrow of upturned earth. A wooden trunk. A silver key. The faces of her boys. Meanwhile, her heart punched her chest like someone pounding a closed door.

Originally published in The Long Story.

Folktale

Excerpt

He came to her in a blinding spiral wind full of objects that she knew: her mother’s hairbrush, an iron, a pair of patent leather shoes. Her mother had predicted his arrival in bedtime stories of ogres and princes which resolved themselves in her mind into one story, causing her to dream of gentlemen beasts, satyrs and were-men, before she dreamt of the light-haired man. Because of her mother’s predictions and her own dreaminess she wasn’t surprised when this dark, fair prince came for her in fact.

Originally published in The Urbanite.

Second-Hand Things

Excerpt

My first mother gave me up through a want ad. Listed on page 74 of the September 12, 1971 issue of The Bishop’s Hill Tribune, halfway down, it read: “Need someone to adopt child. I’m pregnant, due in February.”

Originally published in Phoebe: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Feminist Scholarship, Theory, and Aesthetics.