This story, like many in The Last Word collection, is based on a true incident. See more stories in this collection and others at the Short Stories &c. link above. (for Lindsay) One second. She stops to pick up her bag. Checks that it is closed. Slings the strap over her right shoulder. One second. “I’m going out. Would you like me to pick you up something?” She is thoughtful like that. One second. “Oh, lovely. Would you mind getting…
This story is in the Growing Up New Jersey collection, a series of vignettes slouching their way into becoming a book. See more vignettes in this collection at the Short Stories &c. link above. Give a kid a tape recorder, you know, one of those devices that took little plastic reels of magnetic tape and had a microphone you held in your hand, and it was just an invitation to head down the rabbit hole. I had one of those…
This story is in the Growing Up New Jersey collection, a series of vignettes slouching their way into becoming a book. See more vignettes in this collection at the Short Stories &c. link above. Some months just stand out. October 1957 is one of those months. That was the month the Soviets launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth. On October 4, 1957, to be exact. If you were around in October 1957, you’d know that Americans…
Desemboque It was close to midnight when I arrived at Desemboque. Desemboque, the mouth of the river. Only there was no river that I could see. And it seemed, even in the middle of the night, that I’d arrived at Dante’s Ninth Ring of Hell. That’s all I could think of at that moment. It was midnight and, with the windows open, still it felt like about 1,000 degrees, and as much humidity, here on the shores of the Sea…
This story is in the Growing Up New Jersey collection, a series of vignettes slouching their way into becoming a book. See more vignettes in this collection at the Short Stories &c. link above. There are rumors circulating that the world is about to end, so this seemed like a timely posting. I don’t have a clue what it’s like today, but in 1954 Sussex County, New Jersey, was a very dark place at night, indeed. Especially to a four-and-a-half-year-old…