By Friday evening, Hazel had reached the point where even her to-do list seemed judgmental. There was laundry waiting to be folded, emails she kept promising herself she'd answer, groceries to buy, floors that desperately needed attention, and approximately seventeen other things bouncing around inside her head demanding to be done immediately. So naturally, on... Continue Reading →
Before We Had Names: A Love That Remembers
The first time Mara saw him, she remembered watching him die. It lasted less than a second. She was standing in a crowded little bookstore on a rainy Saturday afternoon, reaching for a battered collection of poetry on the highest shelf, when another hand closed around the same book. "Sorry," the man said. Mara looked... Continue Reading →
The Dinner Party That Became a Competitive Sport
It was supposed to be a civilized dinner party. That was mistake number one. There were six of us, a table full of food, three dogs strategically positioned beneath the chairs, and one cat pretending she was far too sophisticated to participate in anything so common as begging. She sat on the windowsill with her... Continue Reading →
The Little Jar of Joy
Every morning on her way to work, Claire stopped at the same little coffee shop. She ordered the same coffee, sat at the same table for ten minutes and watched the same parade of sleepy people shuffle through the door looking as though none of them had willingly agreed to participate in morning. One Tuesday,... Continue Reading →
The Onza: The Mysterious Cat of Mexico’s Sierra Madre
For generations, people living among the rugged mountains and remote ranches of northwestern Mexico told stories about a cat that didn't quite fit with the animals they already knew. They knew the jaguar. They knew the puma. And they knew the onza. The creature was said to roam the mountains of Sinaloa and the surrounding... Continue Reading →
A Compliment Costs Nothing, But It Can Mean Everything
Maya was standing in line at the grocery store when she noticed the woman ahead of her. There wasn't anything particularly unusual about her. She looked to be in her sixties, wearing jeans, sneakers and a bright yellow sweater. But what caught Maya's attention was her hair. It was completely silver, cut into a short,... Continue Reading →
The Badalisc: The Creature That Knows the Secrets of an Italian Village
Deep in the mountains of northern Italy, where old stone villages cling to the slopes and thick forests stretch into the Italian Alps, there is said to live a creature that spends most of the year hidden among the trees. Its name is the Badalisc. The legend belongs particularly to Andrista, a small village in... Continue Reading →
The Dog Who Chose His Own Family
Every Saturday morning, a woman named Maggie volunteered at the local animal shelter. She cleaned kennels, folded blankets, filled water bowls, and spent as much time as she could sitting with the animals who seemed to need a little extra company. That was how she met Walter. Walter was an older dog with a greying... Continue Reading →
I Put It Somewhere Safe. It Has Never Been Seen Again.
I would like to begin by saying that I have an excellent memory. Unfortunately, I have forgotten all the evidence supporting this claim. My problems started yesterday morning when I couldn’t find my phone. This was concerning because I had literally just been using it. I checked the kitchen counter. Nothing. I checked the couch.... Continue Reading →
The Castle His Dead Daughter Helped Build: The Ghost of Iulia Hașdeu
In the Romanian town of Câmpina stands a strange little castle built from grief. It has towers, hidden symbolism, rooms designed for séances and spaces that seem intended to blur the boundary between the physical and spiritual worlds. But perhaps the strangest thing about Iulia Hașdeu Castle is the reason it exists at all. Its... Continue Reading →