Daddy said I need to defend the house now that I’m the man and if I put a sock over this bat, the bad guys grab the sock but not the bat. See? Then I can bash em.… more
Tag Archives: Parenthood
The 99 Days of Hell
FICTION by Stuart M. RossThe couple said, “it will get better.” They said, “let’s do that tomorrow.” They said, “we got through today and it could’ve been worse.” They said, “God willing,” and they said, “from your mouth to God’s ears.” The husband said, “that’s like robbing Peter to pay Paul,” and death rattled inside him.… more
Beer and Sushi
CREATIVE NONFICTION by Josh OlsenI’m sure plenty of his friends’ parents stroll through his line, but I wondered how many of them had taken him to a concert in Detroit when he was 15, and if I was the first on a Saturday night, buying beer and sushi in a Dusty Rhodes t-shirt?… more
Child of the Fox King
CREATIVE NONFICTION by Matthew Thomas MeadeA due date is like the first day of school. Waiting for it so long. Stuck dull on the end of summer, looming.… more
My Daughter, Myself
CREATIVE NONFICTION by Andrew BertainaIt has been a hard year, or so your new therapist likes to say, filling the silence in her small office, two padded chairs facing one another over a small table, after you’ve spilled some new petty frustration about the kids, your girlfriend, your life. She sips her water and peers over at you kindly.… more
Two Stories
FICTION by Christopher LoweLong ago, your father muttered a curse, telling you that you’re doomed to have a child as troubling as you were.… more
To Have and To Hold
CREATIVE NONFICTION by Matt MuilenburgI was never the patient, never the one forced to grapple with what it means to lose a part of one’s body. I was never the survivor, just the placebo, the control in a world stripped of predictability.… 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
Toward a Happy Culinary Life (Notes)
FICTION by David WhelanAt the final word he looks sad, perhaps recalling his first love (jam), but his observation lingers across the sticky plastic table and your children, at once, come to a realization that all is not right in their world. That their parent is either a liar or, worst, fraudulent.… more
Trot Trot to Boston
FICTION by Hugh BurkhartMy wife’s mother has been with us for nearly a week. Our first few days home with our son were tough and we asked if she would fly in from the east. The request, we both agreed days before her arrival, was premature, erupting out of the seething stress following two nights in hospital after… more
