On the basis of what I took to be his vandalized spirit, he could have been my father. “Can you help me?” he said. “Follow me,” I said, absent the intonation of a leader. I wanted to go to the top—but this man, he looked as though he had fallen. (On his jeaned knee, some […]

The empty hallways were covered with worn-out carpet. A ventilator worked against the smell of fish, burnt fat, and sweat. I felt a pain behind my eyes, in my temples. Some of the cabin doors had numbers on them. A sign directed me to the cafeteria where the night workers were eating dinner. I could […]

The hooker slips his shirt off. In the moment where he can’t see me I steal a glance at his chest. His ribs. The lines of muscle showing abdominals. Not an ounce of fat. I look away before I’m noticed. For years I’ve printed shirts in this shop for a man teetering on the edge […]

The empty hallways were covered with worn-out carpet. A ventilator worked against the smell of fish, burnt fat, and sweat. I felt a pain behind my eyes, in my temples. Some of the cabin doors had numbers on them. A sign directed me to the cafeteria where the night workers were eating dinner. I could […]

When I was younger, I worked for some years as a tutor for a little boy who was the scion of a very wealthy family with its own peculiar culture and a whole battery of customs I never fully understood. I lived in a little cottage on the family property. Besides me and the boy, […]

We came up with it while driving home from dinner. The sky, I remember, had that early morning brightness, though it was nearly ten at night, and there was a full moon without any tricks—no superpowers or strawberry hues or harvest indications. Just light that shone everything into blue. It looked like the world when […]