Lou slammed her knuckles against the glass door once more, hoping that this time a light would come on inside. The small engine shop lived up to its name—it looked the size of her storage shed. “Need something?” Lou spun. A boy stood off to the right, keys dangling from his hand. The street lamp […]

Artis scowled at the jagged spire erupting from the tunnel floor. “This is the third time I’ve seen a spire like this.” “And?” My voice cracked. How many hours since we’d last had water? How long since we’d turned around? “I don’t know.” He trudged around the spire. “I’m sorry, Elsa.” “Stop apologizing. This was […]

I knew the music box was a menace the moment its silver handle caught a ray of sunlight and bounced it around the parlor. I shut the curtains tightly, of course, but that ridiculous box still gleamed. As ridiculous as the nephew who left it on my mantle. I didn’t touch it for the first […]

I woke up this morning with my finger in the shape of a key. The kind with teeth and a notch at the end, except this one was still the same pale flesh as the rest of my hand. I sat still in bed, my tea growing cold, a euphoric nausea swelling in me. I’d […]