The Secret Veterinarian
by Julie Albright (Summer 2004)
Since my wife left, I mostly talk to people I don't know very
well. It's funny how you can get to be my age and suddenly your
conversations are with strangers. My kids call every once in
a while, but mostly they phone their mother, or don't talk to
either of us, which worries me a little. I never have figured
out how much grown children are supposed to communicate with
their parents. Rachel and Ellen are in their early thirties,
and Eddie will turn forty in a couple of years. I want them to
call, but when they do, I feel as though we're about to get caught
at something. more......
We Are Heartbroken
by Julie Albright (Summer 2004)
The volunteers met on a Sunday in January. It was snowy, and
inside the animal shelter a crowd of fifteen or so was bundled
in scarves and hats, armed with Kleenex, sitting on the floor
in puddles of slush from their boots. Amelia thought they were
awfully surly for people who supposedly wanted to do something
nice. Everyone who wanted to be a volunteer Dog Walker or Cat
Cuddler at the shelter was required to attend the one-hour orientation
program. Amelia wasn't sure what you could you say about dog-walking
that would take up an entire hour, but she didn't have anywhere
else to be. more......
Unexpected Tide by Jennifer Bannan (2004)
Audra pulled back the heavy curtains of the hotel room, watched
the promenade of pretty South Beach people below. They formed
a vibrating mass that thinned out toward the horizon, where she
could make out just a few heads bobbing in the ocean. It was
like watching a living thing disperse into all of its atoms,
each one as desperate and quivering as the whole. more......
Where You Still Are by Laura Bork (2003)
It wasn't always like this, this city. There was a library built
of brick and glass and filled with books and tables, and it smelled
of crisp paper and wooden pencils and of knowledge. There was
a bridge that spanned a still rivera river that curved
to the south, and to the east it met a vast cold lake full of
sturgeon and rainbow trout, yellow-suited swimmers and lifeguards
in row boats, and pilings tinted green with algae and worn thin
from waves. more......
Stalking
Mr. Right: A How-To by Amy Krug (2003)
Everyone wants love; thats no secret. The problem, of course,
is finding the right person to share your home and your secret
Richard Simmons obsession. Sometimes, though, in the supreme
injustice that is life, you DO find Mr. Rightbut he tells
you hes married, gay, infected with a pesky VD, or not
interested. Take heartthis does not mean that forging a
meaningful emotional connection is impossible. Consider stalking
him! more......
All Your Horses Someday
by Jennifer Lewis (2003)
It is the day after Christmas and I think we might be moving.
I'm playing in my toy closet while Mama takes down the tree.
When I bring my new dinosaurs out to play in the living room,
the tree is all gone and mama yells at me, "Julian, go back
and play in your room! Do I look like I'm trying to get things
done out here?" more......
Mulberry Absences by Kamila
Shamsie (2003)
When you grow up among mangos it's hard to have any regard for
the mulberry. I speak from experience, of course. For the first
twenty years of my life I don't think I ever stopped to consider
a mulberry for any longer than the time needed to transport it
from plate to palate, and in its absence I certainly never missed
it the way I miss mangos when summer is over. more...... |
|