Part 1   The road was just white. The houses were dark shapes with their eyes closed, their curtains drawn. No one was…

Part 1 (This section is intentionally shorter than the 7000-9000 words requested due to the nature of the prompt requiring the Facebook Caption…

PART 1: The Silence Before the Storm   The words from Ms. Albright, as reported to me later, dripped with a cloying, condescending…

Part 1 The scream of metal against metal was the last thing I heard before everything went black. It’s a sound that still…

Part 1   The searing Arizona afternoon sun felt less like warmth and more like a punishment, beating down on the cracked asphalt…

Part 1: The Weight of an Empty Street The autumn wind was a merciless thing, sharp and dry, tasting of rust and forgotten…

PART 1 The bar smelled of stale beer, old smoke, and the heavy promise of a midnight storm. Outside, thunder rolled across the…

The Day My Deacon Father Slammed the Door on His Pregnant Daughter—’You Made Your Bed. Lie In It.’—The Gut-Wrenching 20-Year Grind from Bus…

The chilling grip of the city bus window was the only solid thing I could feel. Outside, the glittering towers of downtown San…

The air in the boatyard hung thick with the metallic scent of salt and diesel, a familiar perfume that had been my only…