The mysterious Bigfoot makes an appearance in my new short story, “A Diagram of the Unexplained.”

Available from SPD Books.

It began with the Sighting—that was what Violet called it. With the great impact the event had on her life, she felt as if it needed a proper name. After all, nothing would have happened the way it did without it.

The Sighting occurred one Saturday night as Violet—then only thirteen—and her mother were driving home from dinner. Once a month, for as long as Violet could remember, they went for cheeseburgers at the best roadside diner around, the Half Moon. It was one of the only bright spots in Violet’s life: those Saturdays nights spent sitting on the vinyl cushion in the booth way in the back that offered a great view of passing cars on the highway, stuffing herself on the goodness of a steamed cheeseburger with a side of salty fries and cold coke filled with crushed ice, and her mother fully there, aware and present, her attention never waving. And even when the Half Moon was a half memory for Violet, the taste of the food, the greasy smell of the place, the comfort of the familiar vinyl booth still existed inside of her like a stuck record playing the same note over and over again.

But on the way home that night—the last time Violet would eat at the Half Moon—her mother, out of nowhere, slammed on the breaks, sending Violet forward so violently that, on instinct, she had braced herself against the dashboard with her right hand, immediately injuring something in her wrist.

“Did you see it?” Susan said, sounding hysterical. “Oh my god! Do you see it?”

“What? What was it?” Violet asked, holding her aching wrist as searched the darkness through the windshield.

“A monster,” Susan said. “There was a monster in the middle of the road!”