I merely saw her lips move. So frail was she – so frail and low to the ground – that it took some movement on her part to fall into my peripheral sight. Thanks to the wonder of noise-canceling technology, I did not hear her approach, and the […]
The following is a work of fiction. We’d been dating for three months when Carla broke up with me. This is confusing to describe, because I’m saying we broke up, though we never technically said, to each other or to others, that we were dating in the first […]
The following is a work of fiction. Frankie used to refer to the Shady Acres as The Short Timers club. Each person there was not far from a game-ending heart attack or stroke. Frankie had developed an uncanny ability to foresee who was on the verge. Or maybe […]
The following is a work of fiction My first kiss with Carla happened at the State Fair. The whole thing looked like something a guy might plan ahead to do, just so he’d have a moving story to tell his kids someday, maybe even his grandkids. “We were […]
The following is a work of fiction. I only once saw Frankie emotionally shaken, and it didn’t alter my respect for him; in fact, it reinforced it. We got to talking about a friend of his he’d lost during the war. The guy’s name was Joe Stern, a […]
The following is a work of fiction. The first time I went to church with Carla, I went, of course, because I loved her. I wasn’t used to attending church; my family never went, except maybe at Easter time. I’d been invited in the past; some guy from […]
The following is a work of fiction. Part 1 here Part 2 here World War II History was the first class I circled on my community college enrollment form. While I was growing up, Dad watched countless films on the subject. When I was a kid, it annoyed […]
The following is a work of fiction. Part 1 here “…for there are other passions, deeper passions; you know this. You saw fit to sow them there. Sometimes I wish I was not so aware of their presence–beneath the crude folds of my temporal flesh, beneath even the […]
Yesterday, during a characteristically hectic day at work, I forced myself to escape for 30 precious minutes to indulge in some trans-fat sustenance and a little word swapping with the Good Lord: I shouldn’t be here. It’s been busy at work, and we’re down a man. I’m breaking […]
Is Christmas truly the “Most Wonderful Time of the Year?” It is for many, I suppose. For others, it’s the worst. For me, it’s the time of pre-wonderful. It is a candy-coated appetizer to the main course – the series of days I’ve come to describe as “The […]