Chuck and the Four Calling Birds

by Jack Roth             Chuck loved hot showers.  Beyond hot.  So hot that his skin would actually burn, maybe almost sizzle.  The bathroom would fill up with a think cloud of steam and Chuck never, ever turned on the overheat vent.             Hot showers washed things away.  An aching muscle could be soothed and relaxed.  [...]

Heirloom Birds

by Laura Eno Jim adjusted the calling birds on the tree – again. They wouldn’t hang right. What was the point of spreading all this work out over twelve days anyway? Why not just hang all of the ornaments at one time, like normal people? He sighed. Marcie had begged him to follow her family’s [...]