The Cane Caper
/Agatha bemoans the way old people are treated. Then she performs an act of bravery.
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…had just celebrated her 85th birthday, and she was unhappy, as she told her friend Veronica, who at 75 was a lot…
By Anita G. Gorman
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Scott Free
/Bertha and Bertram Free try to find an appropriate name for their baby boy.
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…knew that somewhere in the distant past his ancestors had another name, a longer name, a foreign-sounding name. He'd heard of immigrants coming through Ellis Island and having their names shortened and Americanized by the island's personnel. Maybe that was how his family became…
By Anita G. Gorman
Read MoreI Can't Save You
/A woman mourns the loss of her wife.
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…a girl scout today. Well, I ate 5 boxes of Samoas and 3 boxes of thin mints. There are 3 boxes of thin mints left in the freezer. I showed some restraint. The Samoas were her favorite; perhaps that was why I couldn't stop eating. I couldn't wait for her to wake out of sedation. The truth is I didn't want to…
By Leah Holbrook Sackett
Read MoreIngrid Alone
/…did not know there was a secret in Uncle Otto's family. Or was it a secret? Did anybody care, or was the fate of a three-year-old girl not that important in the hardscrabble world of rural Sweden in…
By Anita G. Gorman
Read MoreWomen Always Leave Me
/…was sure her question was rhetorical so I didn’t answer, fearing I might receive a response marinated in anger. I just sat on the couch and continued watching TV. Next I could hear her throwing shit around the kitchen, shouting profanities, pounding on the countertop, all of this accompanied by intermittent groans of…
By Judge Burdon
Read MoreFaithfully Answering The Dinner Bell
/Food For Thought... Enjoy this tale which is a small morsel as a nice entrée filled with nice dinner conversation, Bon Appetit
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…rumblings from above Paulie could find peace reflecting inside the barn that was cut in half during a domestic dispute that bordered on two neighbors on the same family tree that continued to grow and blossom. Somehow the agriculture landmark was once the centerpiece to where one would…
By Marc OBrien
Read MoreOut to Pasture
/…pints of stout settled into uniform darkness with cream caps firming up. Each was watched with an anticipation, attentive for the right moment. Two men sat in predetermined places. High wooden stools side by side, tight up to the bar for support. One was red-faced from the elements, mostly bald with untended stray hairs. The other’s face was etched in earthy ridges, a worn grey mop above reaching down to…
By Niall Crowley
Read MoreNo Lunch With Lenny
/…best result of hearing a police siren when you are in jail is that you know they aren't after you. Of course then you must deal with the reality that your ass is incarcerated. Los Robles prison near Punteranes ,Costa Rica. I've resided in Gray Bar Hotels in a few states back in the U.S. and had the hospitality of carceles (prisons) in more countries than I'd like to admit. Taking all into consideration this place is better than…
By Judge Burdon
Read MoreMuriel Calls the Neighbor
/…was the time of the pandemic. On most days Muriel Blenkinsopp did not venture out of her house on High Street in Ashleyville, Ohio. She lived by herself, her husband having died five years before, and her children were now at home in another state a few hours away. She didn't even have a dog, though she would have liked one, but they seemed too much trouble to take care of. She didn't like cats very…
By Anita G. Gorman
Read MoreIs This What It's Like?
/…don't like it when it gets dark. Night time. It's really lonely all by myself. Sometimes I can see the stars, but the moon never seems to shine in here. There is a little window up high but I can't reach it. Maybe I could if I stood up on the chair but the chair is wobbly – sort of like…
By Catherine White
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