Category Archives: Fiction

They remembered the winter of 2002 as the season of Polartec. It started with the 4×6 throws (in varying colors) available from Lands’End for $39 each, and ended with robes of the same material and hues. In between there were … Continue reading →

Semites are Semites, and their brains remained binary. There wasn’t any possibility of interbreeding with Sumerians, and if there’s ever been a binary-to-trinary natural mutation, it must not have survived to be reported; none of us have heard of it. … Continue reading →

From the textbooks: two points suggest a line; three establish a plane. The triangle, elegant and easy, is the most stable, supportive form. The first shape. The image of a person, upright. A natural mountain. Tepee. Two is productive but … Continue reading →

The afternoon of Joel’s impromptu visit, we took a stroll. We left Emmet with Laura and wandered the perimeter of the place. We ended up in the small eucalyptus grove near the cow barn. I remember the dialogue vividly and … Continue reading →

Joel was in all ways manipulative, and he played the kitten card with exquisite skill. He’d managed to hear little Emmet’s mews exactly when they served to interrupt us on a slide into old argument. He had left me and … Continue reading →

It was under the influence of that powder that Joel confided his secrets. There’s no telling if any of them were true. It was another mild evening, we were again in the Old City, and we’d been separated from our … Continue reading →

Joel was from Indiana (you never know what motifs will fill your life – for some reason mine has been salted with Hoosiers). He said he’d studied several martial arts, which could have been true, but I doubted his claim … Continue reading →

(You mean I never told you about Joel? He was one of the most colorful characters of my youth! He’s the source of the scalplock. The scalplock … Oh! I guess I’ve done such a good job keeping you out … Continue reading →

Troy arrived before Karen. He was warmly greeted by Deborah (“Hello, Mr. Campbell! Welcome back. Would you like to be seated, or will you wait here for your guest?”) and he opted to sit in the lounge, where he had … Continue reading →

As usual, Deborah slept well and Jake didn’t. She argued that he’d rest better if he exercised like she did every night, but Jake insisted that he worked out enough while he worked. She spent half an hour on a … Continue reading →