This is part of the Dreams and Nightmares Series and not part of the family stories. We were inside a ten-story red-brick building in the middle of the city with traffic whizzing by below us. It was cool and cloudy out, which was probably for the best since the building only had window a/c’s. WeContinue reading “A Gentler Form of Haunting”
Category Archives: Dreams and Nightmares
My Childhood Is Now Antique Apparently
One of my Dad’s favorite stories he loved to retell was about my brother and me. We had just finished eating at a restaurant, maybe a Luby’s or a Furr’s, and Stephen and I went out ahead of my parents. When Dad got through the door, we were ahead of him on the sidewalk vigorouslyContinue reading “My Childhood Is Now Antique Apparently”
Something Has Happened to You
This is the opening section of a novel draft I have just completed. It’s a mix of horror and suspense. What scared me most as a kid were ordinary things I didn’t understand, and I spent a lot of time afraid—afraid of parents dying, being hit by hurricanes, becoming a victim of violent crime orContinue reading “Something Has Happened to You”
Some Things We Know, and Some We Do Not
Reprinted with permission of Atlantic to Pacific magazine. cato is Dead; Long Live cato By Simon K. Pacy You could be forgiven for thinking that the post was a joke. After all, cato’s online intimates, if you can call anyone on the Internet an intimate, assumed it was. And post might be the wrong wordContinue reading “Some Things We Know, and Some We Do Not”
Do Your Part to Slow the Spread of It
Do your part: help slow the spread of it by washing your hands thoroughly. Use hot water, apply soap, and rub hands together vigorously while singing “Happy Birthday.” Rinse hands in hot water. Employees are required to wash hands as prescribed before returning to work. Disinfecting wipes that kill it are provided so that youContinue reading “Do Your Part to Slow the Spread of It”
The Car that Refuses to Get Away
Jeff stands quietly at the bottom of a stairwell. Adrenaline courses his through him, and he breathes deeply trying to remain calm. A dark-haired man in a black collared shirt stands next to him smoking a cigarette. “Any minute now,” the man whispers. “He’ll come right down those stairs. Don’t let his shoes touch bottomContinue reading “The Car that Refuses to Get Away”
Nothing Happened Here
This story is part of a series I’m doing on childhood dreams, nightmares, and distorted perceptions of reality. Some of the stories have autobiographical ties, but they are mostly fiction. And some of the stories reflect fiction I was writing at that age. It might help to consider all of them and how they allContinue reading “Nothing Happened Here”
His Smile Lit Up a Room and Other Things to Say at My Funeral 