As I find myself in a very difficult time in Israel, where I live, this is a deliberately slow-paced ode to my journey to Ithaka.
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Phantom Bonfires
Approaching the coast of the North Carolina Outer Banks, Ray slowed the sailboat to a stop, reeled in the sails with the main halyard, and tossed the anchor overboard. The wind rushed around the hull of the Corsair, causing the sails to waver madly. It raced past him as well, picking at his clothes and hair, blowing in his ears, and making goosebumps rise on his skin. His hair was already a windswept nest from the trip over and liable to tempt the coastline birds or evil seagulls.
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Rings of Magic
It was a hot day in the Colorado oil fields. The hottest day of the year. Robert stood on the platform of the new oil drill his company had just finished contracting and removed his construction helmet to wipe the sweat off his brow. He looked over at the young man with sandy blonde hair standing next to a large valve and computer station. “All right Bert. Let her rip.”
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Apocalypse New
We walked quietly, my brother and I, our footfalls barely audible through the serried leaves, even to us. We were deep in the Kiamichi Mountains, seemingly away from civilization. Better to be silent and safe, than sorry. We could already attest to that.
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Her
"You are so talented and smart. The dexterity in your work is astonishing. You, my dear, are going to be a star." These were my mother's words to me as she held my face in her hands, her eyes glistening with the hopes and dreams she held for me.
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Sea Comedies
Seas. Escapades. Journeys. These are the things one lives for. These are the things that Melissa Jennings’s mother wanted her to strive for. When she did, she found herself in the middle of a rowboat abandoned by her crewmen for the crime of being a woman who wouldn’t “put out.” The churning waves lifted and dropped the small rowboat over and over again as the sun beamed down on her clothed form. Queasiness filled her stomach, and it was only because she hadn’t eaten in days that she was not emptying it into the ocean. Her whole body was sticky and grimy from the caked-on sweat, and she wondered how…
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Reclamation
Emile scowled theatrically at the mirror. His imagination ran wild with unearned pride. That’s how I’ll look, he thought. That’s how I’ll look when I march up to receive that shiny, new badge.
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Grandpa’s Dying Gift
By the time she was nine, Chloe was well on her way to becoming a really, really spoiled brat. As an only child, she got her way with almost everything. Her parents doted on her like crazy and indulged her every whim, being firm subscribers to the belief that she would eventually grow out of her selfish streak. They railroaded over well-meaning objections from her cousins, uncles, aunts and other relatives and persisted in allowing Chloe to live out her childhood unfettered in every way. There was time enough, they felt strongly, for her to face up to the inherent meanness of the real world.
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Mapping Hell
hell is a dank, dark basement apartment once a home for two but now only housing one who perpetually breathes in mildew while learning the meaning of the phrase 'crawling with bugs' as he sits alone on a queen sized bed
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Old Photographs
A ghost of a smile Graced my lips, Gazing at old faded photos of us I missed, Younger days have gone so fast. Truly good times never last.
