The dust sparkles in the dim beams of light from the soiled windows, and I trip over a sheet meant to cover a canvas, sending a stack of paintings like dominos to the floor.

“Do you have any idea what you just did?” Jake asks me.

“Probably nothing good.”

Low moans emanate from the floor and turn to shrieks with the volume down, pitiful cries from pitiful souls, all of them trapped here in their portraits.

“We never should have come in here,” Jake says.

“But we have to find dad!”

“Do you really want to find him in here?… Read the rest

“I ran to the market -“

“No, you sauntered.”

“They didn’t have what you needed.”

“You didn’t look hard enough.”

“Well, I had to be back by 10!”

“You should have gone to other markets.”

“But I didn’t have time!”

“Then you make time, child. Did you do your chores?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“This floor is still dirty and the dishes are sitting in the rack.”

“I’ll take care of everything ma’am, I promise, please just give me a chance.”

“All you’ve gotten from me are chances you haven’t deserved, no more!”

Then I walked away knowing it would never get … Read the rest

“Did you bring it?”

“Wasn’t that the point of coming here?”

“Let’s see it.”

“This place is busy, you want me to take it out now?”

“Yes, yes!”

The man opened the kerchief in the palm of his hand and revealed the diamond, nearly the size of a golf ball, rare, clean, and uncut.

“Where’d you find it?”

“I’ll never tell.”

“Good evening, gentlemen, can I get either of you something to drink?”

“Looks like you are pretty busy in here tonight, maybe we’ll just leave.”

“Yeah, it might be best to go somewhere more private to make this deal.”… Read the rest

You are too deeply engraved into my heart to leave.
You’ve built a home here inside of me; you live in
my hand, too, yours in mine, and in bed we
tangle limbs and get as close as we can –
and if you can do that,
how can you think of leaving?

You are to embedded in my soul to leave.
You’ve taken up residence, you pay rent,
your thoughts control my thoughts, and
oh, how I wish that weren’t the case,
but I love you in ways most won’t ever
understand, but you understand me,
that’s all that … Read the rest

He slams the cash on the counter. “I need a bouquet with a hidden meaning.” He’s not the first to ask.

“What meaning, sir?”

“Murder.”

“Murder again!?” the shopkeeper exclaimed.

She puttered around the room and talked:

“Well, my heavens, sometimes I wish I didn’t keep promises, like when I promised to keep this shop open after my grandmother died. She passed the magic along to me, though. Don’t worry, dear. I’ll solve your problem.”

She presented him a bouquet of the deepest red roses, and he watched her spray them with something.

“Don’t sniff – only her.”

“Who?”

“Your … Read the rest