They are spending the day at Aunt Camille’s house and hanging out with David, Katie, Adam, and Ben. David is the oldest in the group followed by the young man, then Katie and Stephen. Dad is upstairs with Aunt Camille. Jonathan is at work. Jared has gone on a roadtrip with a friend to California.Continue reading “The Queens We Use Would Not Excite You”
Tag Archives: Pets
Hello, Dolly
They play it indoors using a small wooden bat and a wrist band as the ball, and they call it wrist band baseball. They used to play it in the living room when they lived in San Antonio. If you hit the wrist band into the lowest basket of the hanging fruit basket, you gotContinue reading “Hello, Dolly”
It’s Okay If You Go Home Now
Stephen is standing in the young man’s doorway. “Gordon, I think you should come see what’s up with Blackie.” “What do you mean?” “He’s on the armchair in my room and he won’t move.” “Just chase him off if you want him to move.” “No, I mean, he will not move. Just come see.” TheContinue reading “It’s Okay If You Go Home Now”
It’s Only Hubris if I Fall
They got Susie as a puppy for Peanut to have a friend. She was part beagle and part terrier, and Dad was sort of hoping she would be like Freckles. She isn’t–she grows to be taller and bigger, lacks his intelligence and mischievous nature, and has a different temperament–but she is good-natured, and she adoresContinue reading “It’s Only Hubris if I Fall”
The High C
Lani is a concert-level soprano 1 who passed on continuing her music career to start her family with Rob, a Coast Guard lifer. The young man’s mother has known Lani since childhood, and through quirks of circumstance–the Coast Guard for Lani and Dad’s law practice for Barbara–the two women are in the same congregation inContinue reading “The High C”
The Russians Are Coming
They are on the swings together at the park up the street, Stephen in the left swing and the boy in the right swing. “MiGs at two o’clock!” the boy yells. “Break right?” They swing higher and harder. “You got one coming around on you, Ice,” says Stephen. “Can you get him, Mav?” says theContinue reading “The Russians Are Coming”
A Present from Muffy
Muffy has long white hair with streaks of gray and black. Her eyes are blue and alert, though she is never mean. She is mom’s cat and sleeps at the foot of their parents’ bed. Her favorite game is to chase rabbit’s feet and, once she has caught them, drop them in her water bowl.Continue reading “A Present from Muffy”
Fifteen Bucks for a Joy Ride
They have retrieved Peanut again from one of his neighborhood escapades, covered his new hole with a rock, and come back inside. It’s dusk on a warm, humid evening. Their mother is playing Super Mario Brothers. After Kevin showed her on his system, he gave her a turn, and she took them out that dayContinue reading “Fifteen Bucks for a Joy Ride”
Toby
Ruthanne has a rocking chair in her room, so he sits there. The light is off, though a nightlight partially illuminates the room. He is home from his mission and waiting to go back to BYU. She is seventeen and is trying to keep pace with school, though she has suffered with the Epstein BarrContinue reading “Toby”
The Boy’s Cat
When the boy was nine, he noticed a large black cat in their Leon Valley neighborhood. It dominated other cats. Sometimes, he would hear intense whining or crying and see the black cat on top of another cat, pinning it in place with his fangs embedded in the other cat’s neck. Once, he saw boysContinue reading “The Boy’s Cat”
