The short fiction of j hardy carroll
The lawyer sitting across the table from Floyd had a greasy look. “It appears your brother Errol Barnes, esquire, has left you a hotel, ” he said. “Son, I haven’t spoke to Errol in fifty years. Why in hell would he do that?” He opened his briefcase and took out a stained letter. “This may…
Janie, hand in hand with Chloe. In my memory, I can’t see their faces because they’re walking away, but I know they’re happy. It’s early June, the morning air fresh with last night’s rain and the miles of fresh farmland in every direction. My girls are so excited they start to skip down the midway.…
Vargas knew she would not stop crying, so he hit her a few more times and closed the bedroom door, leaving her to her tears. He went out to get wood for the stove. The snow howled outside. The stove warmed the cabin to a swelter. Vargas stripped to his undersuit as he drank himself…
For years, Ray badgered Christo and Jeanne-Claude to barter a piece with him. He sent dozens of works of mail art, a large collage. There was never a response. One day on his porch he found a brown paper parcel bound with white twine. The US Postal Service mailing label was lettered in neat block…
When Mr. Jurgens gave him an F on his project, Pete got really upset. “Edison couldn’t understand that Tesla saw his inventions in visions,” Pete yelled. “They came to him in dreams and he built them!” “Yes but Tesla’s inventions were functional. This isn’t.” This took place in front of the whole class, which is how Pete…
“Ten seventeen,” says the lady. She’s real old, maybe too old to be working. “The sign said the hats were ten bucks.” “That’s right, and with tax it’s ten seventeen.” “Ten is all I have,” I say, looking at the pile of torn singles and dirty change on the counter. “Plus, I’m already wearing the…
Two upon four of us Thank God there aren’t more of us You never escape our kind of poverty, not fully. Nowadays I overhear a woman on the way to the chip stand say she’s starving, see how her bum spills out of her waistband, remembering all them winter days walking to school with my…
Since my seventieth birthday I have assiduously avoided mirrors. I find it is better for me not to remind myself of my appearance, for it belies my inner man. This is not to say that I have the boundless vigor and flexibility of youth, but I certainly feel better than the shrunken visage of sparse…
After the funeral, I made arrangements for the bills to come to my office. Every month, I paid her rent, her electric, even her phone. At least once a day I would call her number and pretend she might answer it, hear her voice on the answering machine. At first I left messages, but then…
“Hello?” “Sorry to wake you.” “Joey?” “Listen. I need you to get over here. It’s Pop.” I sat up. “I had a dream about him!” “Yeah, well. This ain’t a dream. I need you to come to the house right away.” “What happened? Is he okay?” “I––I can’t tell. He’s sitting in the kitchen. He’s…