My shoes leave heavy imprints in the soggy grass as I trudge back to the car. My mom’s already in the driver’s seat, ready to speed away from this place forever, but I couldn’t leave, not yet.

I look back at the hole in the ground. At first it was empty, just a gaping hollow ripped into the earth, but now it’s filled. With a coffin. My dad’s coffin?

I can hardly bring myself to even think the wo...

Cinderella was practically vibrating with excitement as her carriage swept into view of the castle. Her silken gold hair was elaborately coifed into a heavenly updo. Her makeup was beautifully applied in such a way that it was almost imperceptible, yet still highlighted her delicately beautiful features. Her dress was stunning and floated about her like a chorus of butterflies. And her slippers! H...

in the country,

the crickets spew their warm melody,

singing the air to life.

you can sense it.

the mosquitoes, the deer,

the great horned owls.

all spiraling and twitching

in their nocturnal cacophony

in the suburbs,

the grating sound of a skateboard

shudders across the pavement,

and the sound of teenage boys

shouting through the stifling night air

drifts up through the skewed window,

slightly ...