“I’m trying to be an adult. I’m trying to be responsible. I’m trying not to call home crying. But it’s hard. It’s hard when every morning feels like a hangover. It’s hard when I hear voices every time I go… — Jake Vander-Ark Copy Share
“The scar rippled from the top of her bikini line down to her thigh. Where normal girls had hair, Ava had a quilt of mangled skin that required tweezers to de-fur. For ten months she tried joking about it (“Turns… — Jake Vander-Ark Copy Share Image
“The search party became zombie silhouettes in shafts of early-morning light, yawning, despondent, and halfway home when a boy’s scream pierced the fog—“OVER HERE!”—and… — Jake Vander-Ark Copy Share Image
“The feeling was FEAR, she realized... but it was a new type of fear; more sincere than the jitters she felt when it rained… — Jake Vander-Ark Copy Share Image
“The whirlwind in his brain—which had so many times tugged his pituitary in ways that made him TAKE instead of GIVE— subsided for the… — Jake Vander-Ark Copy Share Image
“Trevor could almost see the invisible gas leaking from the broken furnace, billowing around his body, wafting in his wake from the laundry room to the living room, seeking out the nostrils of the realtor, the yuppies, the toddler, and every other goddamn trespasser before seeping into their bloodstream and infecting their cells until they dizzied, ached, barfed, and fell… — Jake Vander-Ark Copy Share
“New sounds rustled through her anti-depressant haze; a gentle reverberation from the heart of the home... another creek... another thunk... rapid clicking like the wings of a broken cricket. Then, raindrops on metal... the escalating blare of a car horn... the scream of wet tires and the clink clink clink of showering glass.” — Jake Vander-Ark Copy Share
“I’m trying to be an adult. I’m trying to be responsible. I’m trying not to call home crying. But it’s hard. It’s hard when every morning feels like a hangover. It’s hard when I hear voices every time I go to sleep. It’s hard when the only thing that would make me feel better is to crawl in bed with… — Jake Vander-Ark Copy Share
“He smirked. “Decision time, pretty lady... back to reality?” She touched his cheek. “Or down the rabbit hole?” — Jake Vander-Ark Copy Share Image
“Memories of last night manifested slowly from the back of her brain, every new detail hammering her heart like a war drum: the flowers,… — Jake Vander-Ark Copy Share Image
“Trevor climbed once again to the land of the living, naked except for an antique gas mask strapped to his face. As he peered… — Jake Vander-Ark Copy Share Image
“She wondered if she was the only person trying not to imagine what death-by-bear looked like. Would bears pick the bones white? Or would… — Jake Vander-Ark Copy Share Image
“The scar rippled from the top of her bikini line down to her thigh. Where normal girls had hair, Ava had a quilt of… — Jake Vander-Ark Copy Share Image
“She grappled his shoulder and pulled him closer; her nose in his neck and the memory-scent of her very first time; that sickly-sweet stench… — Jake Vander-Ark Copy Share Image
