1 In the played-out strip mine, during our night hike, my father led us Scouts along a trail that peaked at the narrow crest of worthlessness that pitched down into darkness, and I knelt to grip the ground with my hands, certain I could fall. Every boy who noticed said nothing.  My father talked me to my feet and guided ... Read More

The garden was taken over by the azaleas. The multitude of flowers stood dormant in the late Sunday afternoon. There was also a palm tree (Sergei still couldn’t get used to the palm trees), a poplar, and plenty of ivies shooting up the sunlit white stucco wall. Most of the trees were planted by the previous owner in the twenties ... Read More

The ocean doesn’t ask forgiveness. Overnight in a sudden fit of disgust it thrusts mound upon mound of seaweed on the shore, the pale sand a tangle of mahogany and rust for half a kilometer. Then slowly over several months, one high tide at a time, it takes each lamina back as though it had forgotten the story it was ... Read More

High-stakes

Picture a man of average stature and looks beside a woman of average stature and looks on a flight to New York from small Midwestern towns.  Picture him telling her he is a high-stakes mogul on his way to put a bow on a deal involving an entire block of buildings, what he’d like her to imagine as skyscrapers.  ... Read More