50-words about silence In the sudden silence after the furnace blower shut off, Heather heard her husband whispering. His words were indistinct, his frustration clear. Heather stopped breathing, listened. A woman’s voice slipped through Bill’s cell phone. Bill’s reply: “She’s home early. I don’t know why.” Heather called out, “Bill, who’s that?” Silence. © Copyright 2021… Continue reading Late Night Caller
Category: Family
Who Reads Warning Signs Crossing the Nile?
In traveling, as in life, there are some things you simply don’t tell your parents. Going beyond what happens at the hostel stays at the hostel, some things you just keep to yourself. Including things that would keep your mom up at night and lead to a blizzard of reminders about safety and links to… Continue reading Who Reads Warning Signs Crossing the Nile?
Thigh Highs
Short Story Ellie pulled her hip waders up over her jeans and ran the straps through her belt. “There you go, Baby,” she said to Nathan, “You wanted to see me in thigh highs.” She mock-posed and laughed, the sun reflecting off her aviator sunglasses and her thick, black braids lying on her shoulder. Behind… Continue reading Thigh Highs
A Night in Her Shoes
150-word story Ellie never knew when her mom was going to kick her out. When she was twelve, Ellie started sleeping in her shoes so she could walk to her auntie’s without worrying about broken glass on the sidewalk — or frostbitten toes in winter. When her mom wanted her back, she called the cops… Continue reading A Night in Her Shoes
No Doubt About It: The Bear Was Stalking Her
Fiction No doubt about it. The bear was stalking her. K.P. had been trying to ignore the bear for three days so she could finish her home-school class in Alaska History. The bear kept sneaking through the willow and alder forest to the edge of the yard from different directions at different times of the… Continue reading No Doubt About It: The Bear Was Stalking Her
My Raven Daughter Whispers Me a Dream
Fiction My thoughts are as thin-walled and hollow as bird bones this wintry morning. The cold keeps me from my morning walk, so I permit myself another chance to doze. Root-rumpled pavement unwinds beneath my sleeping feet as I wander the silence of an urban forest. In waking life my daughter is named Raven, and I… Continue reading My Raven Daughter Whispers Me a Dream
Raven-related stories
Stories inspired by my daughter If you arrived here after reading the Raven and the Mango Roadtrip, I hope you enjoyed the series. I started it trying to write a detective-type story set in Mexico with characters based on my daughter and me. I wrote it by the seat of my pants, and it veered… Continue reading Raven-related stories
Never Trust a Nobleman
Raven Series Part #16 | Jump to Raven # 1 I was surprised to see Pato the next afternoon when I pulled into the lot at Cenote Cardenas. He had parked next to the wooden stairway leading down to the water and was sitting on the open tailgate of his truck, Silver, smoking a cigarette.… Continue reading Never Trust a Nobleman
The Same Cell Block as El Chapo
Raven Series Part #15 | Jump to Raven # 1 “You haven’t met Don Hidalgo,” Don Pedro said to me, “but he hates you.” “Why?” I asked. Don Pedro was pacing again, and he was tapping his machete against his leg. “I should have thought of it sooner,” Don Pedro said, “He wanted to buy… Continue reading The Same Cell Block as El Chapo
A Personal Matter
Raven Series Part #13 | Jump to Raven # 1 Don Pedro and I zip-tied the unconscious Bonetta to the angle iron supporting the compressor frame. The walls were double thick, but to be sure nobody could hear him, I fired up the compressor. It wouldn’t hurt to top off the high-pressure air reservoir. There’d… Continue reading A Personal Matter