“Where’d you find these?” The stooped man behind the counter scrutinized the parchment, capable of reading the symbols that made no sense to me. Father shook his head. I’d discovered the scrolls in a cave amongst the limestone cliffs when a goat wandered off as if it had somewhere better to be. If the world knew, they’d descend upon our desert in droves, decimating it in search of unearthing their own prizes. Instead, father insisted we sell them. “Do you…
Hair rose along my arms as I laid in the darkened tent, forcing myself to breathe and remain calm. I’d woken to movement in my sleeping bag, and terrified to move, I couldn’t even nudge Jack for help. Overwhelmed by the need to scream, icy dread ran down my spine, breaths coming in small gasps as something brushed against my legs. Tourists’ concern about wildlife in Australia no longer seemed amusing, and I whimpered. Jack woke and turned a flashlight…
Nancy rubbed baby oil into her bronzed skin and reclined on a towel. The air was alive with screeching gulls, mingled with laughter from children on school holidays paddling in the sea. A shadow blocked the sun, and she peered over plastic sunnies at a constable. His blue woolen jacket looked stifling in the blistering January heat. He produced a photograph, its edges bent, of three smiling children. “Seen them?” “No.” He trudged on, and Nancy scurried to join the…
It started that lonely, dark night when Eunice showed up with a deck of Uno cards, shuffling them like a professional. We were all transfixed by the movement as she dealt everyone a hand. Later, drunk with happiness and stuffed with popcorn, Margret won. We demanded a rematch, and that’s why, years later, we still meet, hoping to beat her. Paula came close once, Eunice, too. This time, it’s between myself and Margret. I slap a yellow four down. She…