She spoke.  He spoke. They all spoke.  Their mouths opening and closing, floodgates unleashing the ‘rolling r’ at the roof of their...

The hanging doorbell jingles as I step into paradise pocket-sized, at least for Filipino snack lovers like me. Why am I here again? I’m...

The house at the end of Alex’s neighborhood had not been lived in for forty-two and a half years. It seemed odd to Alex that someone...

My father says our town is like a skeleton of a place. The streets grow quiet in summertime when the heat chases everybody North. He says...

Where is the mother I thought I knew? That sweet woman who’d hold my hand while the doctors took my blood and reward me with a scoop of...

June 16, 2010 Pa! Guess what today is. My fifth birthday. Hyung saved his allowance to buy me a toy astronaut, and it even glows in the...

Inspired by “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid Work out on Monday, it’ll burn some calories; go without a meal on Tuesday, it’ll help with the...

After midnight when the windows of the village start to dim, the old woman tucks her young grandson into bed, whispering the words of...

The sex, I knew, would be like an old, familiar floor. Like walking through the hall of your childhood bedroom and remembering where the...

A asks B, “ Do you prefer cats or dogs?” B answers, “I prefer cats.” A asks C, “ Do you prefer cats or dogs?” C answers, “I prefer dogs.”...

Spencer was born in the farmhouse on the hottest day of summer. When he was six years old, his Old Man sat him down and told him, “Don’t...

The blaring Alarm System woke her up. She groaned. She went through her morning routine, ignoring her clock, and stepped outside onto her...

We regret to inform you, they said, we regret to inform you… those merciless doctors in their white coats. I walked home, and I was...

There’s a little chamber right underneath the lights at the very highest level. It’s not really a chamber at all, more of a pit with a...

The sunflower brooch my grandmother would wear on her crimson sweater would always sag down. It used to bug me as a child--I’d point it...

One night, just before midnight, I heard a knock on my door. Tentatively, I went to open it. I peeked through the window at the front of...

Pluto stared at two felt swatches: one the color of seaweed, the other a gallbladder green. His shift ended an hour ago, but he told...

The children crowd around it, jostling each other restlessly in an attempt to get a better look. They whisper in twos, saccharine pity...

One by one, the folks Marius knew were gone. In the year of never-spring, there were no requiem masses. No funerals. Almost no...

At the hospital, it is lonely. Not all the time, of course, especially when John at the front desk says hi to me, or when Katie, the...