The End of the Affair

by Simon Maslin

A housemate had let him in, with an uncertain smile and a cautious half-mumbled greeting which instantly betrayed the fact that his name--mentioned in passing on the landing in the dead of night--had already been forgotten. Old student-house décor and a faint odour of cat were there as ever as he hesitantly made his way in across the threshold. Read more.

New Home

by Beverly Tjerngren

After her older girls hurried out the door on their way to the mall--with her calling out after them strict instructions to wait on the bench outside the main entrance at exactly two o'clock--Rachael decided that she might as well make a trip to the grocery store and do a bit of shopping. Ordinarily she hated shopping on the weekends (she'd been spoiled by the housewife's luxury of being able to shop in uncrowded stores), but she couldn't think of anything better to do, and she felt desperate to get out of the house. Read more.

Tupperware Days

by Lisa Plantico Carlsson

She had spent her life waiting, and now, at 53, she wondered what for. A book she'd recently read suggested that waiting was a position of power; it determined the course of the object for which one waited. Margaret wasn't convinced. Read more.

Shame The Devil

by Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy

On August nights when the heat never dissipated and a humid haze blurred the stars, Melinda would sometimes sleep on the sun-faded gold crushed velour of the sofa. The occasional breeze came through the rusted screens on the windows of the cinder block house. Night sounds were audible--the plaintive, far-away cries of coyotes and the crackling hum of insects. When unable to sleep, her body soaked with perspiration, she also heard the whine of her husband's wheels as he soared around the curves with speed, listened to the gears protest as he climbed the hairpin drive to their home. Read more.

See My Family

by Adam Jeffries Schwartz

See my family. See my family all in a row. See them in front of our house. Mother, father, brother, brother, brother--stick figures all--holding hands, you won't see that again. Read more.

End of Summer

by Deirdre Abrahamsson

I

The moon hung low in the August sky, heavy and full, tinged orange-red, promising another warm day tomorrow.

Angela sat on her back porch, watching the moon and waiting for her best friend Donna to come over. They had been best friends since fourth grade, when Angela clocked Donna over the head with her lunchbox for spreading rumors that Angela liked Danny Lombardi. Angela felt so horrible for hurting Donna, for giving her a nasty knot on her forehead and making her cry, and for getting sent home by the principal, that she did everything she could to make it up to her. She really didn't care what Danny thought anyway--or what anyone else thought, for that matter. She just didn't want to hurt people, to make them cry. After persistent persuasion and gifts of candy necklaces and Wacky Wafers, Donna gave in, and they soon became inseparable. They even had matching t-shirts made with iron-on patches that said Best Friends Forever and their names on the back in blue letters. Read more.