He sat in the cafe and waited for his solitude – a state of mind that felt, right then, so welcoming – to turn on him.† He knew it would eventually betray him, sell out to the cheap advertising peddling an emotion that most people mistook for friendship. He knew that when it did, [...]

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The airplane smelled like stale bread and unwashed laundry.† Maya sat between her parents in the middle block of seats, and she could catch glimpses of the window if she leaned over in front of where her father was studying the complimentary copy of USA today. The words were taunting him with their new [...]

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“Naphthalene” Maya’s grandmother explained. “I used to think it worked, and now the closets reek and the moths are still there.” She picked up a silk scarf off the hallway vanity, hung it up on a peg in the wardrobe and closed the wardrobe door. It slid shut with a satisfying magnetic click. For a [...]

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