Short Stories
Moria’s Prayer
“She was standing on a wall, just inches from the cliff. The rocks shifted beneath her feet, and then, as fast as I could blink, she was gone! We’ve got to go back! She may be still alive.” Herb Donnell paced back and forth across the worn tile of the police station. He mopped sweat [...]
Cajun Potions
The old man knelt on the stage by his case and then carefully removed a banjo covered with decades of Mardi Gras scars. Placing the instrument close to his ear, he alternately strummed and adjusted its strings. Satisfied, he eyed the crowd. In the shadows by the juke box a familiar face waved her floppy [...]
The Sugar Drop Candy Shop
The J-Train rumbled below, vibrating the floors and rattling a chorus line of peanut clusters until they danced on the white-papered shelves. Hilda Schmidt’s bulky frame bulged through her apron as she spit a wad of chocolate into the sink. “You idiot! There’s too much liquor in these rum balls.” A balding candy maker with [...]
The Maiden of Mont Saint Michel
Tall hedgerows lined the road, forming a green canyon in the French countryside. Except for an occasional chateau, it wasn’t much different from Wisconsin. At the wheel was my dad, The Professor. He taught history and literature back home. Sporting a burly gray beard, like his hero, Ernest Hemingway, Dad’s voice boomed as if he [...]
Pork’s Popsicles
The blow surprised him. Pork flew backwards against his ice cream cart landing painfully near the large spoked wheel. His upper lip ached as blood trickled from his nose. Huddled around him stood a half dozen high school football players. Huge and grimy with blackened eyes and scraped knees, they were surprised that the [...]
The Empress of Del Mar
Peering through the camera, Scott whirled his zoom lens, sneaking by the cactus until his client, the Empress of Del Mar, came into focus. Her highness didn’t look up, but continued studying the script, neatly printed on three-by-five cards. A short hike behind her, down a winding path, shadows from the salmon colored cliffs pierced [...]
101 Observations of an Overhead Projector
“It has a red ‘on’ button.” “The ‘off’ button is also red.” ” On’ & off were the same button.” “The projection lens is round . . ..” This was science. The Gemini Program was blasting pairs of astronauts into orbit. Exciting technologies, like transistors and Tang Orange Drink, were being developed. [...]
A Flower
My sister is painting a gift for me. It’s a flower. She’s a beginner, not that it matters. My flower will be a masterpiece. Chris lives hours away. I imagine her working at the easel. She probably keeps her eye close to the canvas. An illness called Lupus hampers her vision, often blinding an [...]
The Dragging
An empty canoe bobbed gently in the muddy current. Someone tied it to the bridge. Fire fighters and other volunteers scrambled frantically along each riverbank searching for its last occupant . . . Todd Bierman. No one saw him fall in. The overturned canoe and a bright orange life jacket were found floating nearby. His [...]
The Rocker
Something was missing! Strewn across the floor, pieces of oak formed a wooden jigsaw puzzle. The smell of varnish and sawdust penetrated the mildew of the basement. There should have been two curved rockers. I tried to imagine a rocking chair with just one. A few days earlier my father chided me about my organizational [...]
