Langley

“Let’s try a puzzle.” Langley’s counselor tipped a box. Brightly colored pieces flooded the tabletop. Langley smoked. Puzzle pieces had smooth edges and joined up. Not lifelike. Not like Langley’s life, anyway.

But. His counselor looked so hopeful. So earnest.

Langley dropped his butt into the stale coffee at the bottom of his Styrofoam cup. What the hell. It’d get him out of talking. One by one, he turned the pieces facedown. The pieces would take ages to fit together, and the picture would be drab and barren with cracks all through it.

Not lifelike, but getting closer. Like Langley.

Also this week, Spillwords featured me in their Spotlight on Writers series. Below are links to stories of mine published on Spillwords.

Coffee, Baseball, and Fear of Flying | Personal Essay

The Only Thing That Has Changed in 500 Years | Short Story

’Tis the Season | Short Story

No Wine in the House Now | Flash Nonfiction

Photo by Ryoji Iwata on Unsplash