katy brandes writes

Their Castle in the Air

Everett and Alicia somehow escaped injury in the blaze. Guilt feelings at deflowering his girlfriend in the hay loft crescendoed when Grandpa asked what they were doing up there. He couldn’t handle the man knowing their sins. She was the Everett’s love of his young life, his reason for being, his muse. Youthful lust evidenced […]

by katy b.

Just before 5:00, Christmas Eve

That motor roared from a heavy-soled boot weighing on its accelerator, the driver’s anger obvious in all eight cylinders. Leaving the office on December 24 with the script in hand had been no easy task. To top off the day, he’d had to pay off the little fart of a doctor for his card. […]

by katy b.

“Where’s Mommy?”

Josie stood at the cell’s window waiting for Daniel to spring her until her feet got too tired from closing the restaurant that night before. She had faith her husband would show. She’d gone for a few drinks with co-workers. It sucked working Christmas Eve. Two beers led to more, and she hadn’t made it […]

by katy b.

Namaste.

Legs crossed, back straight, imagining a string that pulls me upward. Just like the instructor says. Posture matters. So does breath. Each week I try to escape my mental reality. She says, “Set an intention for your practice.” I come here each week to calm my jagged nerves. I come here for calm, but my […]

by katy b.

Gravity Happens

The earth sometimes pulls you back down to terra firma. Taking my third-time-ever spin class this week did so to me. I’ve found, for the most part, I dislike group exercise. In fact, I’ve decided going solo is a comforting although often lonesome endeavor. Being the oldest and probably physically weakest person on a stationary […]

by katy b.

Stuck

A smattering of gravestones eventually became a constant barrage of cemeteries noticed, seemingly at every turn, markers practically jumped out in front of her car. Death brings an overwhelming sense of immediacy, an obsession with its existence, the frightening inevitability of everyone’s ultimate fate. She looked at the chiselled names, hoping to memorize a few […]

by katy b.

“May I take your order?”

He looked damn good to her from a few car lengths away. Definite eye candy. “I should get his number. I might be 38 years old, but I still got it,” Brandy kidded herself. The restaurant clerk was surely checking her out, so she flashed her cutest smile, then blew a cascade of smoke out […]