*This is not a short-short. It’s pretty long. Just fair warning. Patience with this, as well. It may read, at points, like a sermon or a polemic. It’s not. Down the hill and up the trail from Otis and Mercy Warren’s plot is a row of headstones, one of which the man notices because ofContinue reading “The Tomb Is Empty”
Tag Archives: Children
The Lost Cause
Lucia is sitting at the kitchen table with books and a Chrome book open. Her hair is tied in a low bun, and when she sees him come in from his workout, she looks up. “Big news, Dad. We have to do a research paper for history class, and one of the options was toContinue reading “The Lost Cause”
In Ramah, Lamentation
The man is in a crowd of people, and he is given a locker room key. The number on the key is 1065. He enters a locker room—it is the old Carroll High School JV locker room. He walks through the locker room and cannot find his locker. He goes through the freshman locker room.Continue reading “In Ramah, Lamentation”
So This Is It
Right after the session they are seated next to each other on a couch in the celestial room. It is summer before what he thinks will be his final two semesters of college when he will finish with an English major and a Spanish minor. But as he sits next to her, he can seeContinue reading “So This Is It”
We’re All a Family and No One is Leaving
“I was just hoping to have a nice family day,” she says, as he moves the minivan onto the ramp to route 24. “What am I doing wrong?” says the man. “You’re just really grouchy. You could be nicer to us.” He rolls his eyes. “I don’t know when you’re going to get this. ThereContinue reading “We’re All a Family and No One is Leaving”
You Can’t Steal My Motorcycle!
Today is the first day of the first trip he will remember. They are in North Carolina for a trial that his father is participating in for the Department of Justice. They are staying at a hotel on the beach. They are barely into the room before the boy and his brother are in theirContinue reading “You Can’t Steal My Motorcycle!”
Damn You, Paddington Bear
Sunday morning, the boy sits in the second pew with his family. Stephen is next to him. They each have coloring books, and he is trying to stay inside the lines while Stephen is trying to draw bears on his. A speaker is at the podium saying things the boy does not understand or careContinue reading “Damn You, Paddington Bear”
Anyone Else for Milk Time?
The boy believes it is morning snack time. The kids are all still at their stations playing or working on projects. He walks to the front of the class, pulls out his two dimes, and holds them up. “Anyone else for milk time?” No one looks at him—not the teacher, not the aide, not theContinue reading “Anyone Else for Milk Time?”
What Did You Do That For?
Stephen is ahead of him coming back into the house from playing basketball in the driveway. As they reach the front room, Ruthanne comes from the hallway leading to the bedrooms. She is bawling and holding up her thumb. A sewing needle is sticking straight through it. “What did you do that for?” Stephen bellows.Continue reading “What Did You Do That For?”
Where There is No Vision
His cell rings and he is annoyed because she should have left the preschool right behind him but still isn’t home. He doesn’t even say hello. “What are you doing? You shoulda been—” “Be quiet and listen for a minute. We were in an accident.” Twenty minutes later, they are at the jagged intersection nextContinue reading “Where There is No Vision”
The Living and the Dead, by Gordon Laws 