Forbidden by their feuding families to wed, meet or even to speak, Pyramus and Thisbe are forced to converse secretly in the dead of night through a crack in the cellar wall of their adjoining abodes… ~~~~~ “Pyramus, Pyramus! The moon invites us to our sacred, secret place, my love. Let us not waste this precious hour she has granted... Pyramus!” “I’m here, my nymph, fear not. I had to oversee the whipping of three of my...

The inevitable never came. After what felt like hours but was probably closer to a minute, I unclenched just a bit and opened one eye. The bright light was still there; it hadn’t been a flash after all. Trying to locate the source, I peered over my shoulder and found the light at the end of the dock, which had hung overhead as we made love, had flared back to life. Sitting up, I looked back at the house, then towards the...

Everyone screamed. Some screamed louder or longer than others, but we all cried out. Eventually, only a few sounds remained: Heather’s keening wail in the kitchen, Mari’s sobs, Tyler’s stream of profanities, and Lakshmi’s renewed, desolate moans. The heartbeat pounding in my ears threatened to drown them all out. Kyle and Blake had bolted from the room to check on their significant others, knocking over a couple of smalle...

We woke a little late the next morning; almost everyone did. Shy, awkward smiles all around were the order of the day as we made our way downstairs and were later joined by the previous night’s foursome. Shmi had started working on breakfast and seemed to be in a better mood. Ty had gone out back; I heard the ping of an aluminum bat hitting a ball every so often. Kyle and Blake set the table that morning while I relaxed,...

Marissa and I arrived late, just as we always did. To my regular annoyance, and despite my best efforts, Mari couldn't seem to get anywhere on schedule. I thought even our wedding day would be delayed until she showed up right on time with a smile that gently mocked, “told you I’d make it.” This wasn’t our wedding, though; this was a vacation. Specifically, a Labor Day weekend spent at our friend’s lake house, or, more ac...

I didn’t get any work done that day, nor did I sleep well that night. The following day was better, but by Saturday evening, I realized that I’d had no visitors, and I began to worry. I’d expected someone to come and try to talk me out of exposing Ella’s secret and, in turn, the community’s role in keeping it. That didn’t happen. No one came to talk to me about this or anything else. I thought about reaching out to someon...

“What?” I could barely believe my ears. Bob's revelation stunned me; he was not only complicit in hiding Ella's secrets, but he had convinced our neighbors, too? Bob nodded. “Not all of them. Some of them had already decided to… well, to do nothing, I suppose. Some of them just wanted to mind their own business. Others, like Mary Taylor, had their own reasons, and if their spouses weren’t already of the same mind, they mo...

I stood in front of the office building for almost an hour before he came out. Once, I had wronged him and ruined his life. Now, another had done likewise to me, in the same manner, and almost exactly twelve years apart. I don’t believe in karma, but a primitive part of my brain, the same one that made my ancestors ascribe noises in the dark to monsters and lightning among the clouds to gods, couldn’t help but link his fa...

I hated working nights. I'm not sure why I let Jules talk me into it. Sure, the money was better for working 6 pm to 6 am, but money aside, I really didn't enjoy staying up all night. "Hey, Jessi, will you please make sure Nick actually reads this note?" I yelled to my little sister as I scrambled to get out the door on time. My husband Nick is great. He's just horrible at checking his text messages and usually can't hear...