Henry Offerson has a lot on his mind.… more
Kenny was twenty-one when his son was born, and now at twenty-two, he regularly revised the last several months, envisioning himself as an author of the choose your own adventure books he read when he was younger.… more
The only things I’ve ever learned about loyalty, compassion, or real life love I’ve learned from folks with gnarled up hands and backs that don’t lay down right.… more
My grandma was glaring at Trixie’s fixings willing her to lie in the neat bed she’d made. Pearl was lying on her back with that piece of wood in her mouth. She was dusty and had her straw bedding stuck to her in small patches, some on her underbelly. All of her paws were outstretched to the sky. She was letting the piece of wood fall from her mouth and recatching it. Trixie’s phone was face-up flat on the dining table. The phone rang and we all looked to her expecting it to be Croker. Trixie quickly silenced it. … more
Poor Joe Riggs. Time has slowed to a deceptive taffy-stretch for him while he waits for rescue.… more
“You should see this piece of land I have,” he said. “Most days, it’s just me and the dog out there, and it’s beautiful.” It was the last thing I heard him say before he said goodbye. He was building a house. When he got back from six weeks in Portland it would be fall approaching winter, and even if he paid somebody to keep his worksite clear of snow, what kind of shape would he be in, working in the cold? … more
Before I left Illinois, I told Julie I needed to do this once, meaning Antarctica, not adultery. More and more I don’t know what I want in this world.… more
Those gnarled and arthritic hands, back now bowed like the hooked end of a gaffe, his dad once seemed like the most powerful man in the world.… more
“On my right is a steep embankment, on my left an open lane. Ahead of me is the grill of a Ford pickup coming head-on… more