Waiting at the end of the driveway, wrapped in plastic, the morning newspaper looks like it’s holding its breath. When I bend over, a pinched nerve jolts my spine. As I stand and catch my breath, I notice a pool of blood on the other side of the hedgerow. At first, a dozen reasonable alternatives flash across my mind. But there is no mistaking blood for anything else. Dark maroon, matte with a slight sheen, and a primal response that quickens the pulse. Slowly, I look up and down the tree-lined avenue. I'm not sure what I am looking for, perhaps a bloody trail leading to a dismembered corpse or an animal carcass on the sidewalk. As far as I can see, there are no clues. Nothing appears out of place. A breeze in the trees, sunrise shimmers through the leaves. Thin plastic sticks to my fingers as I think about the frayed edges of our small lives where another brutal world bleeds through just enough to remind us it’s within harm’s reach.

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Joseph Kerschbaum’s most recent publications include Mirror Box (Main St Rag Press, 2020) and Distant Shores of a Split Second (Louisiana Literature Press, 2018). His recent work has appeared in Reunion: The Dallas Review, Hamilton Stone Review, The Inflectionist Review, Main Street Rag, In Parentheses, and Umbrella Factory. Joseph lives in Bloomington, Indiana with his family.