Author Archives: sputterpub

Milk Glass

Infinity is tough to comprehend until it’s set against its opposite. Imagining a universal end instead is weirdly inappropriate and fell abrupt. If space and time can be immense, but somehow finite in their size, then what’s beyond that distant … Continue reading →

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Moonshine (How to Camp) – End

Kevin got away as soon as he finished high school. He went to college in another state, married there, and began to live quite carelessly with his young bride. They partied hard. They traveled thoughtlessly. Tracy was a little obsessive … Continue reading →

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Moonshine (How to Camp) – Middle

Abby’s brother and father seemed to enjoy the camping trips. She and her mother didn’t. For her mom it was just too much work. She was always in charge of meals and cleaning, but when confronted with the narrowness of … Continue reading →

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Oakland West (July 1995)

They must have once supported massive weight, but now they rust a ribcage in the air: the 17 old I-beams twisting straight up to a road no longer hanging there. Like dominos they stand – a rusting line no finger … Continue reading →

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Moonshine (How to Camp) – Beginning

The biggest misconception Abby held, growing up, was that adults had the answers. The most erroneous lesson she learned was that her parents knew how to live. There were sufficient reasons for her mistakes. “Mother knows best.” “Because I said … Continue reading →

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$ (1997)

I meditate on money as I make my way to work. I wonder how much stuff a body needs in middle age, to break away from office life. Is it enough invested in a cottage, managed funds, a quarter million … Continue reading →

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Brick Pathology (Part 3 of 3)

Marty marveled at Jane’s ability to be, as Jane herself coined the word: complainatory. She put her feet on the floor and stepped the heating pad switch through its temperature settings to off. “You ready to walk?” Jane smiled and … Continue reading →

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Brick Pathology (Part 2 of 3)

Jane was not beautiful. Marty had been, and was still quite attractive, and Marty was a fair judge of beauty; she didn’t delude herself about Jane’s looks. To her Jane was lovely but she’d never be a head-turner. She was … Continue reading →

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Watches

I woke to see tigridias outside my bedroom door: two perfect painted flowers. They bent beneath the heat and would have died, except I took them in to cup the hours of a Saturday in late July. It didn’t matter … Continue reading →

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Brick Pathology (Part 1 of 3)

If Marty were as resilient as she says, she would have bounced off the brick. If she were as coordinated as she wants, she wouldn’t have lost her footing. If she were as responsible as she thinks, the path wouldn’t … Continue reading →

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