Penny and her peonies. She favors foxgloves and hollyhocks, too. Eggplant, tomato, fennel, and quince. Cherry and chicory and Cheddar pink. Penny's passion is the perfect old fashioned garden. She plants sweet next to bitter, pale and bright grow side by side. Penny plans, with great care, her fecund plot so there's something to bury…

Véronique's dream is much more than it seems on the surface. The short version she shares with willing listeners is she finds herself at the top of a long, winding staircase. She's dressed in a beaded burgundy ball gown and elbow length white gloves. Her slippers are made of diamonds. They feel like feathers against…

Loni left her notes on the kitchen table. The realization, five minutes before she was due to deliver her presentation, triggered a stomach cramp and droplets of sweat along her upper lip. She tried hard not to picture the damage being done to the armpits of her borrowed silk blouse. Loni was up most of…

Make it and wait, or get trapped in someone else's plan. Agatha struggled with her choices. She was thankful to have a choice, of course, but picking the least messy of two less than ideal situations was scary. Each option was an illusion, so maybe it didn't matter which ladder she climbed. Agatha longed to…

Ursula sent Dinah to collect the crockery. Before she stepped foot into her father's study, Dinah performed a little ritual out in the hall. The performance consisted of a counterclockwise pirouette, three clicks of her left heel on the bare floorboards, and the recitation of the words, "I beg your pardon for the intrusion, and…

Gary likes his stuff. Model airplanes, winged creatures under glass, notebooks packed with scribbles and clippings, and portraits of loved ones made from found objects. Don't even dare use the one syllable word that begins with the letter "J" anywhere near Gary. Everything has its place, and collections are arranged on the walls in a…

Claire lost the bounce in her step as she rounded the corner to her apartment. She woke up that morning with the intention of giving her two weeks' notice at the DMV. By the time she got into position behind the counter, she'd scrapped the plan. Claire didn't have another job lined up, but figured…

    Willa shrugs off the chill that settles over her twisted body. She sits at the table and arranges pieces of cloth to form the patterns she sees in her sleep. Willa dreams of sailing ships and wooden troughs brimming with brackish water. The sea parts and reveals fields of pale purple and emerald green.…