The short fiction of j hardy carroll
“My land! Such a heat!” His mother fanned her face with the map. “You’re the one who wanted to see the goddamned thing.” Heat made his father irritable, as did long car trips. “You’re getting sweat on the map.” “Language,” she said, eyes darting toward the back seat. “Little pitchers, Howard.” Howard glanced at Howie in the back…
“When I started this operation, I had a secondhand Cadillac limo and a phone number. Over the years, I have been able to grow it into what you see today—and in a tough business environment.” The squat old man made his way along the row of cars, gesturing with his cigar. “Two Rolls Royces, three…
He sat in the big armchair, staring at the body. So strange to think it would never move again, at least on its own. For some reason this last was hilarious. His face twisted into a smirk the way it had when he was in school and someone had passed him an amusing note about…
He seemed sad. He gazed through the limousine window as we wended through the impossibly green countryside. “You know, baby,” he said, his voice so soft I almost couldn’t hear it. “When I lived in London, my mind was always blown by this thing and that thing. One time I saw this cat in Kensington…
The woman at the desk greeted me with the muted enthusiasm of a person working long hours. “She’ll be so happy to see you. She doesn’t get many visitors.” “I’ve been busy,” I said. “You know how it is.” She stood. “Let me show you to her room.” “No need. I think I can find…
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…
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 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…