Vinny Wins a Zymurgy.

Vin Smitt had been toking on the dictionary again. This is not a pleasant thing for those of us who are victim to the sequela of his toke. When Vinny dipped into his Webster’s International you could pretty much depend on a whole new species of malapropist propaganda. And winter is not a good time. … Continue reading Vinny Wins a Zymurgy. →

How Delmare Wrote his Next

“Saloon was a fancy name for the place. Saloon had associations by etymology that suggested class. This was not a class place. The squeak-hinged door had squeaked the same tune for forty years—opening-to-closing, six days a week. (Closed Sundays, except for select parties and football games.) A twenty-four inch, dust-dimmed TV hung from the ceiling … Continue reading How Delmare Wrote his Next →

What’s it All Worth, Anyway?

Billy Oswalling got out of his battered pickup, and came across the gravel driveway. It is a gorgeous day, and about to get gorgeouser, Eric Tiodine thought. He wasn’t getting any younger and sitting on his veranda in the morning easing the aches of life was one of his last pleasures. He swung his left … Continue reading What’s it All Worth, Anyway? →

What Neither of Us Wanted to Hear, but What I Knew Already

I followed the hearse in. And then, I drove around until I found him. He was feeding pigeons popcorn in the park across from the big stone church on North Second. He sat on a park bench in the sun with his back to the street, but I knew it was him. If you grow … Continue reading What Neither of Us Wanted to Hear, but What I Knew Already →

Washing the Dog’s Blue Dish

Farely was gone. They had taken him to the vet. His tail thumped on the gurney. Then it stopped. The eyes glazed, and he was gone. Dianne was surprised to find herself thinking about it two days later. She had not particularly liked the grubby old dog—he was Doug’s. But she stood at the kitchen … Continue reading Washing the Dog’s Blue Dish →

Feeding the Grubs at the Feed-the-Hungry Feast

This is a repost of yesterday's post. Writelee could not resist adding the word "grubby," which qualifies for the Ragtag word of the day. "Grubby" should have been put into the original. There are a few other edits. Writelee has a discomfort about this sketch and the whole series that began with "I Only go … Continue reading Feeding the Grubs at the Feed-the-Hungry Feast →

Answer Correctly and Nobody Listens

When you answer all the wrong questions, they do this to you. They asked, “who was the greatest writer in the Universe?” “I am unaware of any great writers outside this solar system,” I told them. They persisted, “Who is the greatest writer of this solar system,” they said. They caveated this with, “for God’s … Continue reading Answer Correctly and Nobody Listens →

Bird Woman Speaks

“I don’t suppose anyone here has ever heard of the Olicanucian Flyinitus,” said the person we knew as Robin. Her obsidian eyes glimmered and flickered with light from fireplace and the few dim bulbs hanging from a timber beams. Outside the wind moaned through the hemlock and tamarack. Wind whipped snow pelted and shook the … Continue reading Bird Woman Speaks →

The Emptiest Empty is Silence

The silence was deafening. Except for the whir of the wind in the grasses and the clicking of grasshoppers in their yellow flight, except for the hiss and pop of the small fire on the rock, Eric couldn’t hear a sound. The sagebrush and sweet grass fire flickered in the wind, blue and yellow, on … Continue reading The Emptiest Empty is Silence →

Truth is Not a Good Plot

Vardis Huntre was settling on the plot for his new historic romance. The setting would be a mining camp in the Tobacco Root Mountains of Montana in the nineteen twenties. The idea came to him as he was downing a beer in Darcy’s, a dive at the intersection of U.S 287 and Meadow Creek Road. … Continue reading Truth is Not a Good Plot →