Trick or Treat Don Raymond __________ You’ll only get so many of these; try to spend them wisely. Wisely or not, spend them you will: the clock ticks inevitably forward, and the seasons spill their colors across the trees, regardless of your choices. Try to make the best of this.…
Read MoreThe General Penny Nolte __________ A long time ago, Dad and his brother, who was the principal, found it hidden way underthe stage of our little school in upstate New York. They were scrounging around back there, nodoubt only because they could, and that’s when they hauled it out, this…
Read MoreThe Atlantic Grace Ann Elinski __________ I’ve tried to drown myself in the Atlantic a plethora of times. I say drown lightly. Once or twice on purpose, the number blurred by the waves and liquor, other times just so drunk that maybe I might have drowned. Obviously, every time, I…
Read MoreEveryone at the Sand Sculpting Contest, Imperial Beach, California, 1985 Lynn Mundell __________Jennifer says none of us have any imagination or experience, so we should make a sand Pop-Tart, which will require zero skill. We all stand around in different colored bikinis like a box of crayons melting in the…
Read MoreOne Long Sunday Afternoon of Oblivion Vanessa Blakeslee __________ Dust kicked up from beneath the tires as the unmarked utility van before me abruptly veered to the right, down the gravel lane toward the Scenic Overlook. At first, the many utility and moving vans that kept pulling off of Highway…
Read MoreLifespan, Lovespan & The Golden Storm Tara Flaherty Guy __________ Lifespan, Lovespan Lucy lies in a splash of late afternoon sun where it slants in through the patio door, warming the carpet and her soft grey fur. It is unseasonably warm for late October, and the patio door is open.…
Read MoreA Fenian Girl Mary Ann McGuigan __________ It sounds like she’s reciting the rosary, her way to get through this. It’s dark outside, way past our bedtime, and Mama is repeating names and dates once told to her, conjuring faces long gone. “We lived on MacDougal Street in the Village.…
Read MoreA Perfect Place to Feel Lonely Patty Somlo __________ I didn’t intend to be alone at this point. After staying single long enough to worry that I might be alone forever, I went on a blind date. By the time my date and I said goodnight, I’d already fallen a…
Read MoreLove, Life, and Death on the Amazon Steve Bernstein __________ 10/14/15, Amazon purchase: Family Life: A Novel, by Akhil Sharma, Kindle $9.14 We were on call for both moms 24/7. One of the remaining joys my partner and I shared was reading a book together in bed. She read. I…
Read MoreThe Beach at Trouville Sandra Carlson Khalil __________ You had a habit of delighting me, of doing things I thought no other grandmother would do: laughing at your own jokes as food sparked from your mouth, standing barefoot on the couch to recite old-fashioned poetry, and mimicking Bob Ross —…
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