Publications – AVRIL ADAMS

The Student

A young black girl is menaced by a boy at school with emotional problems. “You can’t play nothin’.” I didn’t raise my eyes when I heard his voice. I shifted them sideways. It was the new boy in class. Beside me were the dirty high top basketball shoes, and the black corduroy pants with theContinueContinue reading “The Student”

Los Mochomos

A New York city journalist travels to Central America to discover the secret of the red ants. He encounters a mysterious colonel who does not wish him well. I’m trekking to Tegucigalpa from my new bureau in New York to meet with a man who is, for now, just a murmur on the telephone. HeContinueContinue reading “Los Mochomos”

The Baby

Christine meets up with an old friend who has just had a baby, named Scarlett. The new mother, Fiona, lost her first child, and is having mysterious trouble with the second one. Fiona appeared with the warmed bottle. Her carpet slippers had slid silently over the carpet and Christine was taken by surprise. Fiona handedContinueContinue reading “The Baby”

Independence Day

Ava makes a bargain to dispose of a gangster’s enemy, in exchange for a new life. It was the 4th of July, the country’s Independence Day. It was Ava’s, too. Although, unlike the nation, Ava was still unsure of what it meant to be free. On the vanity she set the lipstick, “Crimson Dynamo”, andContinueContinue reading “Independence Day”

A Halloween Masque

Bridget is reluctant to attend this year’s high school Halloween dance. Her boyfriend died on that night in a car accident the previous year. Bridget drove a mile down the gravel road that ran parallel to the highway. She had almost forgotten about it as the shortcut to Cromwell. Bridget’s mother never took that roadContinueContinue reading “A Halloween Masque”

A Wedding in Little Tokyo

Under the stress of living as a Japanese woman in Los Angeles just before the start of World War II, there is a mysterious encounter with supernatural forces. This story uses magical realism to weave a story that incorporates the myths and traditions of ancient Japan into the fabric of everyday life. As the lightContinueContinue reading “A Wedding in Little Tokyo”

The Lowriders

This urban tale of racial tensions is set in Chavez Ravine in Los Angeles prior to World War II. It was inspired by a visit to the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, where vehicles capture the zeitgeist of Southern California’s car culture. Salvador Bernstein stepped in front of the bathroom mirror. It would beContinueContinue reading “The Lowriders”