The short fiction of j hardy carroll
When she opened the door of the apartment, Linh did not recognize him, though she did see something familiar in his face. A nice face, she thought. At first she she thought he was another American salesman who had business with her mother. The smells of the restaurant downstairs mixed together with the usual odors…
When I woke, the windows were translucent from the dried salt spray. I went downstairs to make coffee. The power was out, but the gas range was working. I was searching for the kettle when I heard the door. She came in, hair splendidly tousled across her tan, lovely face. “You won’t recognize the beach,”…
In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Truth or Dare.” One day she just knew. There was no epiphany, no moment of truth. It was a simple knowledge, like remembering it is your grandmother’s birthday. Embarrassment? Certainly, but embarrassment of a private sort, embarrassment more akin to shame. This was the first change wrought…
“What a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.” “What a crock.” I kicked the side of the treehouse. “It doesn’t even make sense.” Teddy tossed the book into the corner. “It’s full of that stuff. Maxims and shit. My aunt gave it to me when I was little.” “What are maxims?” He…
She hadn’t anticipated the cold. She knew this wasn’t supposed to be comfortable, not that there were many stories about how it was supposed to be, but comfort was really the last thing you could expect, at least while you were actually doing it. Even pills would make you nauseated. Her original plan was to…
The only residents remaining in the small town of Miners Hill are spirits. They were always there, though I was the only one to see them, much less communicate. My grandmother told me it was a gift. Experience has shown me it’s the opposite. Spirits are everywhere, as anyone who sees them will tell you.…
“It looks nice in our yard.” “It wasn’t supposed to look nice. That wasn’t the point.” “What was the point again?” “I wanted to shake them up. Make a statement. You know.” “So you made a dinosaur. Out of garbage.” “Not garbage. Scrap.” “Whatever. You’re surprised they had a bad reaction?” “I thought that—” “You thought…
Ten in the morning I find Patsy sitting at the end of the bar. His missus left last week, gone in the night without a word. Patsy said there was a note, something about visiting her sister. She had no sister I ever heard of. Patsy was Dad’s friend. When I see him now it…
He spoke of tremendous mysteries buried in numbers. “Right under your nose,” he would say. He’d spend an hour on the symbolism etched into the dollar, fill a notepad with calculations of its hidden meanings. He counted everything. Once I found him in the yard counting the needles on a pine tree, convinced the numbers…
He stood there like a fool, banging the big brass knocker. No answer. He was about to leave. It was in his mind. Get in the car. Back out of the driveway. Never come back. Fuck this. But she came to the door, stood wordless for a moment before turning her back to him, walked…