“Horror Sprinkles” on The Dusty Wood Podcast #47
Because of the late hour, the doorman had called to say that Vanessa’s guest had arrived and would be up to see her shortly.
Alexandro Botelho of DiverseTV reads, “On This Dark Night, If.” Writings on The Wall. August 2021. No link available.
On this dark night, if instead of being snuggled safely wherever you happened to be, you were sitting in the bright-white steeple of the Pilgrim Chapel on the outskirts of Dallas, and you chose to strain your eyes and look out through the rain pouring from the generous Texas sky upon the branches of the oldest black cherry tree, you might have seen the long, dark wing of a vulture extending out over a raven as it fluttered down to roost.
We hadn’t yet conceived a number for how many died in the battle. The flies were many. The crows were many. The dead were many. Their feet mashed, rhythmless, into the ground as the snow gathered. All around them the bare branches bowed and snapped in the wind. They had gathered on both sides of the stream that ran beside our walls. The herds used to drink there, but they had followed the stream south as it froze.
Hakeem Starkman’s dressing room was brightly lit thanks to a dozen naked white bulbs protruding from the frame of his vanity-like ideas he was trying to ignore. He swallowed a big gulp of water from his glass. The ice cubes clinked back and forth in the glass, and it started to sweat.
“Willow in the Window” on The Dusty Wood Podcast #40
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"Split." Short Story. Honorable Mention. Land Conference. 2007.
"Round Two." Short Story. The Central Review. Spring 2012.