Amelia Gray

They don't understand it. They're not old enough to know the first instinct of irritation should be avoided in order to keep an open mind.

It was clear that in a past life the detective had been a phone booth beside an empty highway.

The sun beasts the shit out of a dirty road called Raton Pass where the closest thing to a pair of matching earring is a guy named Carl who punches you in the head with his fist.

[Olive__] left foot was bleeding through a wide swath of bandages onto the tarp it was resting on. The bowl next to her was full of blood.Olive looked a little pale. __ don__ think I should move,_ she said.__hat are you doing?_ Roger shut the door behind him and stood with his back to it.__ decided I might try to eat my toes,_ Olive said, closing her eyes. __ut now that I__e started, I don__ think I should move.__oger pushed himself off the wall and knelt down next to her. He unbuckled her silver belt and reached with it under her dress. He looped the belt around the top of her leg and tightened it. His hands were not shaking. __it on the loose end,_ he said, pushing it under her. __ hope that works.___ou brought flowers,_ she said, blinking.__live,_ he said. __ou cut off your toes.__he looked down at the bowl. __re they still toes?_ she asked.

Today, it's possible to read both erotica and books written for children without fear of social castigation.

Tess realized one of the great modern dating sadnesses: everyone is so used to the comforting glow of the computer screen that no one can go so far as to say "good morning" in public without being liquored up.

The more bleach in the bedsheets, the greater Chastity's impulse to roll around in them. A party would be thrown, she decided, the kind that would tell a small story in the contents of the dustpan the next morning. Detached sequins and mint leaves muddled by high heels, shrimp tales mixed in with a few shards of broken glass, a crust of bread. She rolled in her bleached sheets until they wrapped around her like a storm, and she fell asleep in the eye of it.