Short Story: An Unfortunate Inheritance

I read a story once, where the main character turned into a cockroach. As my classmates argued about allegories and the unbearable weight of banality, I doodled a bug in my notebook. The story made no sense at all.

In the yellow light of the bathroom’s naked bulb, an overturned cockroach wiggled feeble legs. “I feel ya,” I mumbled through toothpaste foam.

Maybe I finally understood the allegory, ten years too late. I rinsed. The plastic case of floss judged me from the cracked edge of the sink.

I flicked the cockroach right side up and stuffed myself into the only clean pair of scrubs left. Mr. Denovan, a human cockroach if I ever saw one, had a notorious gag reflex and I’d drawn the short straw yesterday. He’d bucked and swayed in the chair as I inserted the tray for his dental molds, and then he’d leaned over and puked. On me. So, yeah, I was seeing the appeal of roach life.

Continue Reading on Grim & Gilded

This story was first published on Grim & Gilded on January 31, 2023.

Short Story: Bog Water

On a muggy spring afternoon, the clouds sense a secret is about to be discovered. They crowd low, peering over a verdant bog. The sound of a pickaxe falls in a rhythmic swish-thump. The man’s fear and worry rise like perfume.

Another woman was taken yesterday. The clouds hadn’t been in attendance, but they knew that the man’s sister was there, and that she looked away for only a second. All that remained of her friend was the basket spilling red, glistening berries onto the ground.

 Swish-thump. The man, Olek, drives his pickaxe into thick peat. Every time he pulls it out, it makes a squelching, sucking sound, as though the bog doesn’t want to relinquish it.

 The bog doesn’t often relinquish things.

Continue Reading on Potato Soup Journal

This story was first published on PotatoSoupJournal.com on August 1, 2022.