Tag: story

It’s All Movies

“Churches and trains, they all look the same to me now.” Amsterdam, Gregory Alan Isakov A months old conversation I had with a friend keeps replaying in my mind. “Teenagers have this thing they like to say, ‘It’s all just movies.’” It was uttered with great concern, a […]

Rich Like We Were

Our dreams have a way of regressing us, don’t they? In our waking hours, we can remain masters of our own domain (or so we like to think), but in our dreams we may become the lost child we all fear we are—the kid who forgot to wear […]

Two Birthdays, Two Dreams

A hammock is the best place to relax. This is what my wife told me when I opened her birthday present to me––a woven, technicolored hammock––complete with poles, since our tiny yard lacks the requisite pair of trees. At first, I laughed at the gift, but now that […]

The Kitchen Clock Died

On the wall of my kitchen there is a clock. I bought it at IKEA sixteen years ago, back when everyone thought IKEA was kind of cool. The clock has been a faithful keeper of time these sixteen years, though that’s a simple job when you think about […]

Liar, Liar, Bible on Fire

   “Sometimes, there is more truth in a lie than there is in the truth. If you want to make someone understand reality, then you have to lie a little. You have to distort things, to exaggerate in a way that reveals the way you see things.” – […]

The Stony Voice Within

        My first “published” story was written during the second grade. The story was titled The Brick Monster, and my teacher thought it worthy of submission to the state young authors competition. Weeks later, I found myself in a stark room – a classroom for grown […]

The Shrunken God

Some of my most vivid childhood memories are those of church Sunday school classes. I remember the felt-covered boards the teachers would use to give visuals for the stories – the ones with the little paper Bible characters. I don’t think many Sunday school teachers use felt boards […]