“Oh my God,” Eloise moaned into the top of her knees, body bent into a sitting fetal position and thoroughly defeated by the twins’ repeated singing of the nearly out-of-control Shari Lewis and Friends song; she leaned into a deeper regret at having sent her brother Andrew off to the haunted mansion with only a broken flashlight and a box of three matches, and screamed, “Will you two just shut up?!” Continue reading
grief
Giant Change
Hugo was unhappy. He’d been left in the tree swing too long. The swing, his favorite, hung from a branch of the biggest Douglas fir on Heffinger Mountain. A snack, a nap, a swing in the sack, and he’d be a happy boy all day. Continue reading
Simple Prayer
You shout and tell me it’s not fair,
To give you one more chance, to dare.
That moon and all the stars are mine,
If I bow down just one more time.
Sundown
“I’ll get that for you,” murmured Kathy, sighing, as she rose to fetch her mother’s favorite wool blanket; it had been in the family for ages, but it was the one Elinore had always favored. Continue reading
Comfort Cooking
Bok choy and thin-sliced carrots, a bit past their freshness date, sizzled in the pan. She sniffed the aromas of sesame oil, lime, and Moroccan baked tofu. The sharp scent of sliced onion softened, long layers relaxing, rolling and shining over her cooking spoon. Continue reading