Category Archives: Fiction

There’s a stage in the life of a man, when in the middle of a fall afternoon, likely a Friday, he’s in his yard raking leaves maybe, or getting the mail. He’s not wearing a stretched-out cardigan, one with those … Continue reading →

The little children exchanged the mug each holding it with both hands to the count of two, just long enough to get their hands warm. They so wanted to taste its contents, rich chocolate, sweet, forbiddingly sweet, but they needed … Continue reading →

Albert Siegel had a day off, a miserable Monday, and risked going out for a walk in the park not yet off limits. Even as he walked the paths, he noticed the very few other walkers hurried along, heads bent … Continue reading →

Some people said good night or words to that effect. Some nodded their heads as if acknowledging my humanity. A couple of young things smiled, almost shyly, and hurried out. I figured they felt guilty or something that I was … Continue reading →

How long had I been there? Standing stiff, me looking down at the carpet, just like the officer demanded. Waiting for what I didn’t know. It would be bad, of course, but how bad? The two who brought me in … Continue reading →

It was only a coffee. How much simpler could that be? Decaf with skim milk and Stevia. They didn’t have stevia; they only had Sweet n’ Lo. No big deal, she’d said. Fine, the waitress replied. Fine, again. Why had … Continue reading →

The barn smelled of its occupants — a cow, a pig, a half dozen piglets, some chickens, and a swayback horse whose eyes were perpetually closed in the hope of being left to sleep. There was also the slightly sweet-sour … Continue reading →

 (This is an attempt to emulate Shirley Jackson’s view of the world.) The mother other took another deep breath, holding onto her temper. Finally, she gave the little boy another five dollars and pointed to the ice cream van. “Just … Continue reading →

(I’ve been less than productive with my fiction and have taken to typing at random hoping I can beat the chimp also typing a random to recreate the Complete Works of Shakespeare. I read somewhere that the chimp doing so … Continue reading →

The memo went around the trading floor.  Finally, after threatening, after complaining, after squeezing an added few weeks to his already long vacation allowance, after working remotely two days a week, and after years of discussing his rich bucket list … Continue reading →