“What’s that?” I eyed the poisonous potion my father was holding onto with trepidation. He sat on the weedy fieldstone terrace with a drink of something orange in front of him. The old wrought iron table wobbled, accentuating his unsteady hand every time he picked the glass up. His tall drink tipped precariously when he set… Continue Reading
Author Archives: Sidney Stark
Love Affair with ‘S’~ a personal essay
Sitting at my desk in Vermont very early one recent morning, I found myself staring at the mountain instead of the email I was supposed to be writing. Shadowy morning light reflected on ‘Hayride’– the broad, satiny white-ribbon trail most prominently centered on the view from my window. Suddenly, I saw four black specs, easily… Continue Reading
Who Are You Talking To?
My sister had a nerve-wracking habit of appearing in my room uninvited. The fact that I would have been drawn and quartered, probably literally, if I’d dared to consider the privacy of her room assailable had no bearing on the sanctity of my space. She was privileged; I was pathetic–from her point of view, anyway.… Continue Reading
Greener Grass~ a short story
“Do you suppose we took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in Brigadoon instead of Essex, Connecticut?” Whitney stared out the front window of the BMW with the rapt attention of a moviegoer at an old fashioned drive-in; except the big screen she was watching was the heart of a real small town. “No… Continue Reading
Things That Go Bump!- ‘writing about what haunts us’
A recent Opinionator article by Peter Orner in the NY Times, titled “Writing About What Haunts Us”, stuck a commemorative thorn in my side. His piece addresses guilt as a motivation for writing fiction in general, and a particular incident in his young life that haunted him so deeply he had to turn to non-fiction… Continue Reading
Certain Liberties- Chapter Two
He put out his hand and bowed slightly, assuming it would be expected when greeting an English girl. “Adriaan Hindrick Klass Van Cortland de Koningh III,” he said. Her reaction told him all he needed to know about his new house guest. “I’m twelve years old,” he added. Her expression changed not at all under… Continue Reading