Prologue I stabbed her with a palette knife. Repeatedly. Until she was dead. I know I’m not a killer at heart. But sometimes you do what...

... if this was the year he’d returned to kill her, also. His error. But every year, the odor faded and she continued breathing. After an...

The doors were just closing. He stuck his arm inside to hold them open, joining her in the elevator. Her breath froze for a moment. No,...

She sped along the curving road, darkness surrounding her, redwood trees towering overhead, blocking the moon. Beside her, the phone...

She walked through the park, barely noticing where she was going. The national news blared from her phone, destroying the tranquility of...

Everyone hated wearing the masks, but it was necessary, for now. And truthfully, she didn’t resent the discomfort as much as others did....

A small pour from each bottle. Flowery words that sounded the same after a while, disconnected from the taste on her tongue. When they...

She stepped outside, squinting, then waving to her neighbor who stood bathed in the sunlight falling across the pavement. The ping of a...

When the woman smiled, her teeth were individually perfect, but the smile overall was off-balance. “I prefer you call me mother-in-love.”...

She inserted the weeding tool into the soil. Carefully, she worked the metal prong around the roots, pushing deeper. When she thought...

Her: Why is he looking at me like that? Him: Smile, bitch. Would it really kill you to admit I exist? Her: If I smile, he’ll think it’s...

The chair was empty. But she always saw him sitting there.

The hallway was dark, all but one of the motion-activated lights unlit for the past hour. A crash interrupted the stillness. The building...

The first time he told that story, she’d laughed. The next one-hundred-thirty-three times, her laughter deflated, then dissipated,...

It happened so fast. Birth. Hope. The anticipation of beauty. Decay. Despair. Death. Lasting no longer than a passing thought.

The sound was faint, audible only when her eyes were closed. She lay in bed, hearing jaws masticating as if the creatures were inside her...

Clouds had settled across the entire sky. They sat there like a thick blanket, smothering everything. He closed his eyes against the cold...

She walked briskly, inhaling the pre-dawn air. Ahead on the path stood a crow. His eyes bored into her. She slowed, advancing cautiously,...

She twisted the ring, angling it so the sun reflected off the diamond. With a mind of its own, the ring slid off her finger. It pinged...

Every night in the dark, the questions appeared. Why? When?! What if..? How long?? Should I?!? In the morning, the white board was wiped...