s t o r y | Bloody Valentine

Bloody Valentine

By Lorrie Unites-Struiff

Vivian May held the corner of her babushka over her nose to keep the bitter cold from stinging her throat. Her shoulders hitched with sobs as she stood in the small hillside cemetery and the other hand gripped the firm arm of her son, Johnny. She shivered as the mid-February storm blowing off Lake Michigan sliced into her bone marrow and iced the tears on her cheeks.

The service now over, she stooped and laid one red rose on the grave of her husband, Mike. She let Johnny hurry her into the car that was parked among the other North Side mob members and friends. Once in the car, she stared out the side window.

 Behind the swaying pines, across the snow laden gravel road, four men were hunched against the wind, scarves wrapped around their faces. She nudged Johnny. "Do you think those guys are Capone's South Siders?"

"Nah, I don't think so. What would they be doing at Pa's funeral?"

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s t o r y | Midas Protocol { The Axe Man Cometh }

The Midas Protocol - The Axe Man Cometh { Prologue, Scene 2 }

By Matthew J. De Reno

Two men crept silently to the door Larry Bingham entered about an hour before. The shorter of the two set a metal can of gasoline on the brick patio. The mahogany French doors, which were flanked by a walled flowerbed, provided access directly to the kitchen. Johnny Rocco’s partner put a gloved hand on the brass door handle and turned it slowly. A firemen’s axe was braced over his partner's right shoulder. Several days of surveillance told them that the doors should be unlocked. They were.

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s t o r y | What Happens On A Sunday

What Happens On A Sunday { An Excerpt }

• Read an introduction to this piece by HC Editor Nicole Leckenby
  

By Laurie Koozer

There was nothing more exciting than a Monday night game against the Ravens, especially when that Monday night game fell on Halloween. An hour before kickoff, Desiree and her mom ate gyros in a window booth at Salonika's on Sixth Street and watched the parade of crazies. It was a cool night, crisp like an apple straight off the tree.

"Oh my god, did you see that one?" Desiree pointed, then covered her mouth and laughed. Across the street, a woman dressed as an angel held hands with a giant banana.

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s t o r y | Girls Like Us

Girls Like Us

By Laurie Koozer

The night Brandi tells me about Zachary, it’s near the end of April our senior year - that first warm day of spring when you finally know that the temperature isn’t some cruel joke, that winter is finally over and summer is coming to stay. Still, we are rushing things with short skirts and no pantyhose but it’s one of those nights when the empty cornfields and endless rolling hills feel full of something other than that standard aching desperation to be somewhere else, a night when I look out into the same old nothing but fancy the whole place as an infinite possibility, ready to ignite. We are bored, like always, and drive to the next town over, the anticipation of summer heat filling the streets of Indiana with young people looking for something to do. And for us, this night, it’s good enough just to be best friends, just to go somewhere and have boys look at us, not even talk to us, just look and maybe flirt a little before we run off, giggling into the night.

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s t o r y | Midas Protocol

The Midas Protocol { Prologue, Scene 1 }

By Matthew J. De Reno

Red eyes glowed in the shadow of dark woods, and watched. They followed a white car cresting a private brick drive. In the white car, a gold box vibrated softly. As the car approached the dark wood, the red eyes faded, and the gold box stilled.

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