Dog by Jo Varnish
He keeps Dog on a chain outside. It’s heavy, to build up the neck muscles. He throws it discounted slimy meat every couple of days, and pokes it with a…
He keeps Dog on a chain outside. It’s heavy, to build up the neck muscles. He throws it discounted slimy meat every couple of days, and pokes it with a…
Quarantined overnight in an old pickle jar, the growth is sick yellow, shrivelled like a waxy clove of garlic. I hurry to dress: waterproof over-trousers, jacket with the butterfly-patch covering…
Millie watches daylight sit between her fingers. We’re lying on the sofa in our front room. She’s five but smaller than most five year olds, I’d fit more of her…
I’ve taken to wearing sunglasses indoors, at least when you’re around. It’s childish, yeah, but not in the way you might think. I’m not trying to stand out or embrace…
In an apartment – top floor, no lift – on rue Barbet du Jouy, a woman is kneeling on the floor. Her knees are chafing on the hardwood and her…
“Can you guys name something that lasts forever?” Pete readied his marker with an enthusiasm that bordered on parodic. He was one of the “cool” youth leaders. Even at that…
We haven’t seen sky for weeks. It’s been smoky-grey so long, I’ve forgotten if blue even exists anymore. Ash catches in my throat as some Fire Marshalls arrive in a…
In the aftermath of the party, he wakes covered in the glittering soil of an upset spider plant. Crumbs of gold-flecked dirt slip from his swollen eyelids as daylight intrudes.…
She doesn’t save him this time. In the woods, she had known which mushrooms they could eat. In the House, she had shown him the trick with the chicken bone.…
You wait for him by the river’s edge, pulling your cardigan tight around your shoulders. A pair of swans float along the bank opposite, pausing to dabble for food in…
After the third Stoli and cranberry, Irene’s husband Burt takes out his fire plow. His friend Mike eggs him on. “This man,” says Mike, flinging an arm over Burt’s shoulder,…
On our boulevard of weeds and rot, our retired neighbor, Ivy, made us tea and finger sandwiches, taught us chopsticks and Chopin on the piano, and doled out metaphors and…