“Ten down the line!” called the aproned puffin.
Ten silver pie tins slammed down on the military-grade wooden counter. Waffles crusts packed down in crinkled corners with precision. Tap tap, turn, tap tap, tap tap. Six pairs of hands filled six tins with peach preserves from a jar. Four...

"There's coffee in the fridge."
What a statement, I remembered thinking at the time. At once an offer of hospitality and a glimpse into someone's private dwellings, their day-to-day oddities that had become background noise in their lives. Was it cold brew? Brewed earlier and chilled? Canned?
I opened a can of...

Another coworker left today. Put in his notice, at least. Spiritually he's already gone, away & beyond to the next great thing & to higher pay. The triangle may be the strongest shape, but diagonal will always be the strongest direction.
That makes twelve in the past quarter. That's...

Miranda woke up crashed upon a pillow like an ancient shipwreck. Lifting her head she found the pillow made of clouds, and that she seemed to be falling. She idly cursed the timing of events, remembering in the back of her mind the psych test they had that day. She...

Family dinners used to be seamless, chaotic yet orchestrated, cajoling the moments like motes in the air around them to bundle together and create each chip of a memory.
They came like the seasons, but daily, so like the weather. The barrier of the dinner table warded off evil...

There was a man who used to come here on afternoons and weekends. Upon entering, he would clack his feet against the rough-worn entry mat, take his brimmed hat in his hands, and walk about the grounds, admiring the rose bushes and the birch trees most of all.
In...

There is a dog next door that window companies should hire to drum up new business for thicker window installations.
That a junior Nyquil analyst would have to thank for a slight uptick in sales in our half-mile area.
That liquor stores would toast in jubilee were they...

"What does she do, then?"
"I’m not sure she works, if I'm being honest."
Nick sipped his coffee, tasting what he'd heard. A song by The Cure played in the purposefully-chic coffee shop Taylor had chosen. The decor didn't suit him but Nick didn't mind. Robert Smith was...

A summer morning is all your own.
A light heat mists in the air, gently hazing everyone’s goings-on to be that much more personal, lost in our own pathways if but for a few hours.
Where even obligation can’t weigh against your first acts of the day, as...

The Oldsmobile drove around the corner, nearly clipping the sprouting palm tree for the second time as it lapped the old adobe house for the fourth time that afternoon. Its smooth tires took the curb with a rumble that thudded throughout the vehicle.
The driver cursed, adjusting his rear mirror and...