Sometimes it’s difficult to close my eyes at night.

As if a marionettist is cupping my cheek, pushing furrows into my brow and squeezing my eyelids closed, tight enough to peel until my forehead aches.

When my eyes glue shut for long enough, staticy patterns bob and dip in my vision until they swirl and mold into my mother and I am opening the garage door.

Breathing in the scent of tar, marlb...

“Take your shot, stranger. You’ll only get one.” The rumble of the gruff voice near me wakes me from my stupor, coming to my senses to see my finger swishing around the bourbon in my small glass shot. Gross. I glance over, two seats away from me, a burley man with a tangled dark beard, holding his own shots of bourbon. He scans me as though i’m an old friend, and i can tell he’s already taken a sh...

Engulfed in the decrepit tomb, the crimson beads appeared across her forearm with nails stained red.

The claustrophobic space incapacitating her made her unable to stop the pool of ruby liquid from growing, the back of her shirt dampening and she was alone.

She had solidified. She walked the halls with a scowl painted on her face, eyes glazed over and slightly darkened.

Sometimes when the roo...