I. The weeds need pulling—for the sake of the crop. The little two-by-five foot plot at the edge of yard, in the only section that gets any dependable light, is overrun after another week of neglect. Grasping handfuls of the unwanted shoots I wonder the purpose of weeds, if they are knowingly belligerent,…
Tag: fiction
Virtute et Labore
(the seventh chapter of Shell Games) The new vagabond’s mind rippled outward like a vast, quickly growing web of consciousness catching flies of transcendence, as she flitted in the direction of Albany. Molly Connors was a living, breathing paradox, she realized: alone yet with all things. Another earlier paradox had zapped into her brain…
Tisk
Don’t go looking for Tanokwans today, though. There’s only one left in the year 2016, and he’s out in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, holed up on the second floor of a Howard Johnson. There each day is spent, reading and critiquing every word Henry James ever wrote—even a pile of the author’s yellowed, crumpled notes…
The Lucky and the Sublime
(the fifth chapter of Shell Games) The great town seal of Blandis depicts a man on his knees, his hands raised joyously toward a mountain with the sun’s rays shining from behind the tall peak. The year this occurred, 1734, is emblazoned at the bottom. All in all, it’s a very impressive work of…
A Great Mystery
(the fourth chapter of Shell Games) The Rev. Walpole Albright had suggested the universe wished to snuff out dozens, hundreds, or even more of its own creations. Most of the universe’s creations who heard this dire pronouncement met it with a shrug. Yet the promise of eminent destruction lingered with a few of the…
“Don’t Look Now, the Universe is Laughing”
“Don’t Look Now, the Universe is Laughing” by Will Carlson At some point in our lives everyone meets at Starbucks. It’s true. In 1997 an experiment was conducted by Professor Maxwell Sloan of Loyola University to test his theory. For five years at the college’s campus franchise two blocks away from his office Dr. Sloan…
No One Will Believe You 