The Correspondent

The Correspondent

Gilbert’s dying. It became the whole thing. You, Bruce and Fiona, my brother, our friends, my work, the house, our life, all of that was sitting on the sidelines, but I was in the ring wrestling, bloody, half-dead, with Gill’s death. Parenting the other two, trying to...
A Confederacy of Dunces

A Confederacy of Dunces

Along the block some people were out on their porches looking at him and the motorcycle. The shutters across the street that slowly flipped up and down to get the proper focus indicated that he also had a considerable unseen audience, for a police motorcycle in the...
Bewilderment

Bewilderment

My Robin didn’t always sleep well. He wet the bed a few times a season, and it hunched him over with shame. Noises unsettled him; he liked to turn the sound way down on the television, too low for me to hear. He hated when the cloth monkey wasn’t on its...
The Aerodrome

The Aerodrome

“Mother you held me on your knee. Mother you worked for me. Mother, you taught me to toddle. Mother, you fed me at your dear old breast.” His voice died away to a whisper and in the ensuing silence I looked round the tent at the dim, grave faces of the...
The Time of Our Singing

The Time of Our Singing

At home, her worst nightmare settles in for a double feature. Her mother insists she sit down for Easter dinner. “You have a bite of my holiday ham and get something green and filling in you. Specially if you’re taking a trip.” “Mama. Please. Just this once. I’m going...