Knitting Fiction

She turns her head so violently to the left that you’d think her eye ball had been snagged by a size G crochet hook. She stops in her tracks. Around her the early morning coffee shop is humming. Conversationalists are leaning toward each other across tables. Students, writers, and dawdlers, each seated alone, are geared […]

Pete’s heart is thumping like a snared rabbit trying to throw himself free, but instead with each plunge, the trap wire cuts deeper. He has snared himself. I put myself here, he thinks. He is tied in place, on a couch, with taut wires made out of his own free will. He has decided. He […]

“I am so sorry,” Cindy is shaking her head as she speaks. “I am just so sorry.”       “No, it’s on me. It’s all my fault,” Pete turns in his seat and cradles her hand in both of his.       Dr. Waldt leans forward in his rocker. “I can clearly see both the […]

Oh geez, I should not have told my dream, Pete thinks. Stop! Dreams are like thoughts. They do not cause anything. Dreams do not bend spoons.      “You have had a powerful dream, Pete,” Dr. Waldt says. “If the dream is a message from your subconscious to yourself, what do you think the message […]

Do not—whatever you do—do not think about stuffing him in the trunk of his car. Just DO NOT think that thought. Oh shit. I already did. I’m not even in the fucking room yet and it’s already started. STOP!      “Come on in Pete and have a seat.” Pete and Dr. Waldt are standing […]

Oh shit. I thought I’d be alright. Last time I spent the whole hour 'bawling like a calf’. That’s what Grandma would say, ‘bawling like a calf.’ I hope I don’t do that again today.      Once again, and for the third time, Pete stands with Dr. Waldt in the doorway of the psychoanalyst’s […]

Pete does not hesitate. Even as Dr. Waldt is motioning him toward the couch on the far side of his consultation room, Pete is already in motion. He leaves Dr. Waldt’s words, “Please, have a seat, Pete.” drifting behind him. Three long strides and Pete has crossed the room and is leaning toward the raven […]

Pete is holding his two fists tight against his forehead. His bottle of Dumbo’s magic feathers is clutched in one of his fists. He is sitting at his desk in his home office. Before him his laptop is open to the Facebook page for a man named George Miller. I can do this. Breathe in […]

She tapes the flyer over the chaos of photos, greeting cards and receipts that she’s already taped on the refrigerator door. Meaning that for at least a week it will get first dibs for her attention. Meaning also, that she’s made it invisible to him. Because he is more interested in the contents of her […]

Irene wrapped her positive pregnancy test in toilet paper—around and around—over and over. She opened the lid of the metal feminine sanitary box and dropped it in with the used tampons and pads. Still sitting on the toilet, she buried her face in her hands and wept and laughed. And wept. And laughed.      […]