The porcelain urns

April 9, 2006

The sound it made when it broke proclaimed the sudden turn my life would take. Though not sounding anything like a starter’s pistol it managed to convey the same sense – begin. Now! Through the window I could see the sky graying with clouds. The air surrounding me was becoming thicker, heavy with increasing humidity [...]

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The downside of knowledge

February 25, 2006

She asked me if I remembered. I told her: “Remember? How could I forget? I recall it specifically because the … the … the thing!” No. I had no idea what the thing was. I didn’t remember. My memory isn’t like that. My brain has it’s own way. It recalls that Captain Picard, at the [...]

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After we went to bed

January 29, 2006

There was something a little bit quiet about Mary-Ellen and something a tad unusual about her face – a look not commonly there. For a woman normally vibrant and carefree and brightly loquacious, she was strangely somber, perhaps even anxious. She simply sat at the table and stared at her coffee. “Hey, dear? What’s up?” [...]

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A ghost story notion with too much exposition

January 15, 2006

It was raining for the 28th straight day and everything, even birthday parties, felt funereal. As this was a funeral, of sorts, there was a sense of excess to the occasion. The mourners arrived just in time dressed as clowns. Trent scratched his head, sighed and said, “That’s all they could get? Clowns?” Flo shrugged. [...]

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Chinook

November 19, 2005

If Annette’s mother was on the floor, her jaw askew from a punch firmly delivered and her head bloody from the blow it took in the fall that followed, and she was seriously dead, no blame can be laid except to the wind, the damnable, disreputable wind. My worry was that police and lawyers and [...]

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The Introduction

October 30, 2005

It was just a bad feeling. I couldn’t coordinate my limbs. Stepping forward, I would weave right. Reaching out to the fence for balance, I clutched air and staggered in quick-step fashion till I came to an abrupt stop, arms outstretched, weaving like an unstable antenna. I tried to speak but my words slid, one [...]

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I once knew a man with a hole in his head

October 17, 2005

I once knew a man with a hole in his head. He put it there himself. He used a hand drill. He got the idea from a news story – the newspaper, a television newscast, whatever. It was immediately picked up by every news outlet in the world. It was offbeat. Good filler. Some news [...]

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Children’s games

October 16, 2005

The children are gone. Roger’s pants are gone. So is his wallet and with it our money. I can’t help but think there is a connection. Roger, in his early fifties and with a “paunch,” meaning he’s considerably overweight and very out of shape, stands raging. He wears nothing but an ill-considered thong. I am [...]

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Blue

October 2, 2005

Neil Young was singing about prairie winds and Canada geese and I was getting into a relaxed, perhaps melancholy mood, when Russ said, “I had no idea that’s where that goes.” “It doesn’t go there,” I said “Oh.” “Put it there. With that.” We were cleaning up my mess. Trying to make sense of things. [...]

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Does it ever stop raining in this town?

September 25, 2005

“It’s raining.” “Yes.” “Will it stop?” “Eventually.” “When?” “Dunno.” “Shit. So why do you like this town so much? All it ever freakin’ does is rain.” “There are places in Africa where this would be proof of God’s beneficence.” “God’s what?” “Beneficence.” “What’s that?” “Kindness. Goodness. A helpful gesture.” “Well, this isn’t helping me. If [...]

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