Slaughter
It’s hard to find good help these days. Before lunch, I knew the new guy they brought in wouldn’t cut it. His hands shook when I handed him the bolt gun.
Stories
House
Right before I caved and called Dad, his work called. They never do that. The woman’s voice was warm but strange, shaky at the end of sentences.
Rule 99
If the directions the boss gave me were correct, I was getting close to Los Suelos. The road before me devolved from a state highway to a county road of rutted macadam and faded thermoplastic road paint.
Chasm
Calvin started going to the diner as an escape. He wanted to avoid church, but his parents made him promise to acknowledge God, His presence, at least once a week.
The Buried Man
The truth is I don’t expect them to show up at all. I’m used to getting blown off. It’s basic as hell—New Kid Blues, et cetera, et cetera.
The Carlos Clay Crockery Company
Bianca didn’t have time to stuff the hundred-dollar bill into her pocket before Luis came in to check her register.
¿Eres un Duende?
The preparations required ingredients she didn’t like clients to see. Most disliked what they saw.
Excerpts From a Doctoral Student’s Closing Notes
I can’t believe this. I managed to do the only thing I didn’t want to do.
Damn Diary
Goddamn those Schaefers. If I never write another word in this damn diary, let those ones be the ones that stick.
The Heavens Beneath
Los Suelos is a revelation. On the surface the town looks rundown. But there is a thrum beneath the crust here.