I talked to my nephew today, he’s afraid of the dark. Or was. I said, “Why are you afraid of the dark? In the darkness we find many beautiful things!” He said, “Like what?” And...

It was all changing. All of it. And it was horrible and it was lovely.

For no real reason – well, perhaps because of the seriousness under the trees or Nader’s hair, which was very messy and covered in little grass seeds – Katie began to giggle. She knew it...

The breeze around them seemed to drop – dead – like a door to the best things had just closed.

As a child, I was more afraid of tetanus shots than, for example, Dracula.

When he had eaten, Mr. Lecky lay down on his cot, though he did not expect to sleep. The four lanterns continued to shed their thin floods of light. Against the dark, this illumination set...