November 9th, 2012 § permalink
I noticed the pigeon pacing along the Pink Line platform had a band on its ankle, which was pretty keen of me considering how much my head hurt.
My phone buzzed.
“I’m listening to the wbez live show- did you make it down there?” the text read. » Read the rest of this entry «
November 7th, 2012 § permalink
Two lovers twined bodies in the cold grass behind Wicker Park’s winter-dead fountain. A homeless man paced back and forth smoking while another stood by the chessboard tables, arranging and rearranging his overflowing shopping cart. A rat scrambled by. It stopped for several minutes to dig in the dirt less than two feet behind me.
I was there in the November dark to watch Guy Fawkes fight “Obamney.” » Read the rest of this entry «
November 5th, 2012 § permalink
“Every night you’re sure to get Batman, Superman and Big Bird,” the cabbie with the mole said. “You get some characters. They’re usually good people, just crazy.”
The cabbie was taking me from one courthouse to another, from the Miesian glass-and-steel luxury of the downtown civil courthouse to the 26th and California criminal courthouse where murderers and thieves get taken away under chipping plaster. » Read the rest of this entry «
November 2nd, 2012 § permalink
The little girls paused below the flashing lights of Rothschild Liquors, Minnie Mouse being so bold as to pull on the door handle.
Raggedy Ann and the garden-variety princess stood back, watching the older girl pull back and hang off the door in that way little kids have of making everything a game. Their parents rushed up to suggest, not tell, that maybe this wasn’t the store for them. » Read the rest of this entry «
October 31st, 2012 § permalink
I looked the smiling man in the eye.
“Hold on. Let me check,” I said, flicking a 50-cent piece in the air.
The coin spun for a just a moment before landing in my hand. It was tails, so I sold my soul to the devil. » Read the rest of this entry «
October 29th, 2012 § permalink
It was that day, that horrible day when you finally know it’s done.
October 26th, 2012 § permalink
It was the guy at Quimby’s who told the man in blue where he could get the stuff. » Read the rest of this entry «
October 24th, 2012 § permalink
The mourners’ right cuffs were all strapped down. » Read the rest of this entry «
October 22nd, 2012 § permalink
If you’re reading this, lady with the sad quavery eyes, I’m sorry I lied to you. » Read the rest of this entry «
October 19th, 2012 § permalink
It really was a dark and stormy night.
The wind tried in vain to whip up leaves that had been tamped and damped by the icy streaks of rain that tore through the sky in brief, flickering bursts. But the leaves lay wetted and dead, slicking the lamplit streets and sidewalks of Chicago, Illinois. » Read the rest of this entry «
