The short fiction of j hardy carroll
Jeff always liked to quote Mike Tyson: Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. And we didn’t even have a plan. How could we, for something like that? It was so unreal that I couldn’t admit it was really happening until I saw Dolly lying there, blood soaking the bright yellow…
I don’t recognize her at first. Different clothes, different hairstyle. I smile, stand up. “Thanks for coming,” I say. “You want coffee?” “No thanks.” She sits. Her face is leaner, the high cheekbones defined. “You look great,” I say. “I’ve been doing crossfit.” “I hear that’s pretty grueling.” She flexes her bicep. “It’s paying off.”…
She awakes again to the thrumming of rain on the patio tiles, her stomach clenching as she ties her robe. She goes to the window and hears the beating of the surf more than a mile away, so it isn’t exactly a surprise when she arrives at the cafe to find that yet again the…