Author: Jack Sinn

While crammed into a worn vinyl booth and sharing burnt coffee under fluorescent lighting, the conversation from the car replayed over and over in Mitch’s head. He alternated between picking at the ripped vinyl fabric, and sneaking glances at Avi; try as he might, he couldn’t unravel what happened, and Avi was mum on the…

“Hey,” Avi greeted when Mitch opened up the passenger side door. “Hi,” Mitch mumbled, then followed up with, “Thank you. Thanks for- fuck.” He collapsed into the passenger seat and ground the heel of his palm into his eyes, unable to get his brain together long enough to form a cohesive sentence “It’s,” Avi paused….

For the millionth time it seemed that Mitch took Toby’s bait and became his unwitting dance partner. Something feral awakened from hibernation when their tongues made contact, and before Mitch was even cognizant of his actions, he pivoted and straddled Toby’s lap. He broke free to gasp when hands groped under his shirt and pawed…

Toby’s apartment was located roughly 15 minutes north of the bar, in what could barely even be considered a town. Despite being in the middle of nowhere, he said that he stuck around all those years because his rent stayed dirt cheap. Mitch visited the place a few times since Toby moved there, and it…

Conversation flowed easy once grievances were aired and drinks arrived, and Mitch felt silly about all of the worrying that he did over the last few days. Yes, the chucklefuck presently across from him was directly involved with some unnecessary despair, and that wound that refused to scab over. But at the same time, the…

Half an hour later, Mitch arrived at the bar. He used the ceiling light to look himself over in the mirror; despite shaving that morning, his stubble already returned with a vengeance. His sole consolation was that he didn’t appear any more tired than usual, which was still a vast improvement over how he looked…

Avi spent the last week buzzing about the plan he developed with in-ring exercises, and he managed to secure a time and date specifically for Mitch. After some artful prodding on Mitch’s part, Avi admitted that due to this being off the books, he wasn’t getting paid for his time. “It’s fine,” Avi insisted, “We’re…

On a dreary October evening, the rain pounded so heavily on the roof that Mitch heard it while he showered.  It was about two weeks out from Graveyard Smash, and Jodie reached the point where she lived part-time at the school, going so far as to keep an air mattress in her office. While Mitch…

Armed with a pen and printer paper, air in his lungs, and the drive to take charge and do rather than think, Mitch reached out. The message contained the following: a lengthy greeting, inquires about how they’d been, and finally Jodie’s gig offer -if they were interested. He shoved his phone back into his pocket…

Out on the deck, Mitch sat on the wooden picnic table and waited until his heart settled down. Next to him the guitar waited, a patient companion that didn’t judge, and grazing its lacquered surface brought Mitch back to planet Earth. He pulled it onto his lap and fiddled with the tuning, consumed by guilt…