Tomlinson raged to his feet, scattering the table and playing cards. “Cheater!” he hollered at O’Leary.

“Go home, Tomlinson, you’re drunk!”

As Tomlinson stumbled toward the barn door, his boot knocked over the lantern.

For three days, Chicago burned.

Tomlinson blamed it on O’Leary’s cow. Nobody alive could contradict him.

Jen Mierisch draws inspiration from science fiction, ghost stories, and the wacky idiosyncrasies of human nature. She lives, works, and writes just outside Chicago, Illinois.