The day my father called to ask if I could help him bury Casey, his golden retriever, I said no, and maybe if I had answered differently this story would be over, but instead he still steps out of his garage with a shovel to dig the hole alone.… more
Tag Archives: father
Little Rambo’s Fang
Fiction by Brodie LoweHis parents called him Little Rambo because he liked watching Stallone manhandle the bad guys on an old VHS tape. He rewound the tape over and over until he copied Rambo’s posture the right way and shot his own little arrow through the air into mimosa trees lining their property. He ran through the woods and jumped over fallen pine, charging after imaginary enemies, calling out and telling them that he was coming for them.… more
Lights Out Helena: Montana, 1992
Fiction by Joel WayneOnscreen, George Bailey is wandering the streets of Bedford Falls, pacing by the house of the girl he is meant to be with but doesn’t know it yet. I cry when he shakes her like a rabbit. You think I don’t know that love?… more
A Father’s Counsel
Fiction by Youssef RakhaWell, the revolution made Karim fatherless all his life. Now the coup made him lifeless. … more
Mile 183
Fiction by Kari TreeseHer sigh woke us—Dad from his silent, attentive driving, and us from our screens in the backseat. … more
Truth is Violence, Violence Truth
Fiction by Adam LockViolence is all about the truth. You have to hand it to violence — everyone knows where they are with it.… more
Silence, Father
Fiction by Delvon T. Mattingly“When grandmother passed away, father grew reticent. And I was okay with it, since he abandoned his routine of scolding me for lacking masculinity. Since he didn’t condemn every tear that fell from my face, spewing the same toxic rhetoric of how I needed to emotionally withdraw and appear similar to a parapet wrapped in black derma, to protect everyone around me, just like him. When I thought I would cry most, I felt nothing.”… more
Sometimes The Air Stills
Fiction by Chris Di PlacitoA boy under the cancerous spell of his abusive father. A town under the deprived grip of misogyny and violence. Both stunted and silenced with fear.… more
