Author: Harlan Covington
“Why do you have to be so harsh?” Andrew stared at his wife in disbelief. “Emily’s in trouble.
The dog appeared at the bakery in the last week of September, when the mornings already smelled of wet
Emily sets her bag down and stops at the gate. Rex sits by the porch — a big, reddish dog with grey on
Claudia Matthews’ grandson turned twenty, and for all those twenty years Claudia had known: he
I came home from work starving, so get something ready. The man I’d been seeing for six months said one
“Once you’ve given birth to a daughter, not a son, clear out of the flat,”
The door slammed behind her with a heavy, final echo. Alice stood on the threshold of the living room
Mary Johnson put the kettle on. Just habit. Six in the morning, the kettle, a mug, the doorstep.
Emily first heard the howling on a Saturday, driving home from the night shift. Long, mournful—it sent
George came back from the shoot in a right mood, like a wasp in a jar. He kicked his wellies off by the









