She sat in the third row watching a group of musicians play in front of a glass window that looked out upon a garden. The musicians’ bodies meandered and stuttered, mirroring the improvisational sounds they were weaving together from their instruments. Behind them, the wind was causing branches of trees and shrubs to flounce their…

I pressed the button for 10. The elevators began to close, then popped back open as a man dashed inside. He pushed 5 and then looked at me and frowned. I suppose he was hoping he would have the elevator to himself. As we started to ascend, the man stepped very close to the doors.…

He had thought about walking since it was so sunny out, but he was short on time so he pulled out his phone and ordered a car. He did not notice the car at first because the picture on the app looked to be a black car, and the car that drove up was more of…

A woman was sitting alone at a bar. She was drinking a gin gimlet. A man came in and asked if the seat next to her was taken. She made a show of looking around at all the other empty chairs at the bar and then said, “no.” She detected a Southern drawl and assumed…

Before the leaves grow back the bird nests appear as rheumatic lumps on the branches of the trees. She looks at her own knotty joints and tried imagining life springing forth, little birds chirping instead of bones grinding and synovial fluid popping. Synovial sounds too much like jovial, she thinks. There is nothing joyous about…

She was putting her suitcase on the conveyor belt in the security line. Ahead of her, a young father and his son had placed their bags and and coats in bins. The father started to take his shoes off and the son made a fuss about not wanting to do the same. “How old are…

In the middle of the night she hears the bus exhale a heavy sigh of exasperation. “Must be having another tough one out there,” she thinks. The next day after work, she stops at the bodega and buys two cold beers. “You look tired,” the cashier says. “Long day?” “You bet,” she says. “Can I…