short Stories and Essays

He realized that this wasn't religion, that it was a scam. But like the sucker at a carnival game trying to guess which shell hides the peanut, he paid the required amount.
"What is your question?" she asked.
"I want to know," he answered, "if I will ever get a novel published." She spent a lot of time moving the cards about until they were in a configuration that seemed to mean something to her. She looked him straight in the eye.
"There is a greater chance that the moon will rise out of the...