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: Short Story
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…
Off on the New York Waltz
(the sixth chapter of Shell Games) No one noticed Molly Connors was gone for twelve hours. Her mother came to the realization of her daughter’s disappearance only when the evening meal was taking longer than usual. “Is there twice as much food tonight, or just half as much me?” had been her first thought, drawing…
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…
So Sayeth
(the third chapter of Shell Games) England and its North American extremities also spoke much a similar language. One wrote to confess it was growing very tired of seeing only subjects’ backs; the other replied it was equally leery of losing the necessary leverage and independence an arm affords. Another volleyed folly eventually ensued….
Salesman of the Year
The 2016 presidential primaries have scorched innumerable campaign trails across the nation, like so many well-meaning, patriotic arsonists. Fellow Southeastern Connecticutians might be excused from fully appreciating the quality and quantity of fireworks currently being set off in other parts of New England, upon distant New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Here, along the placid…
A Final Charge?
(the second chapter of Shell Games) A Final Charge? Glass Connors was standing mere feet from Bonnie Prince Charlie on the last battlefield of the Jacobite Scots the moment the earth collapsed upon them all, at Culloden, on April 16, 1746. He survived the day, and longer, to eventually become a small part…
“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…
“The Tale of the Two Deaths”
written December 4, 1996 I had known the outcome of my incarceration the moment of my capture. Being an officer of higher rank, I was relegated, along with several of my comrades, to the fortification of Los Cuevos. At the the sound of those words I knew my fate my secured. Los Cuevos was…
“Jack Meets the Devil”
Pencil and Inks with Digital Color Based on the legend of Stingy Jack and his fate as a Jack O’Lantern (admittedly as a turnip in the original Irish tales)
No One Will Believe You 