She always surprised. That first day I met her, she came up to me in the classroom, stood in front of me and said, “My name is Ginger.” I remember staring at her and mumbling, “It can’t be.” I thought ‘Ginger’ was what people named their cats, not their children. She was certainly new in… Continue Reading
Bring Up The Numbers
“In my office at 2,” he said, pointing a finger at her. “You too, Richard,” he nodded at her colleague who’d just stopped by her desk. “We need to discuss the Lenox deal.” He turned to leave, and then pausing without looking back added, “Bring up the numbers when you come.” She’d known her boss… Continue Reading
Perspective Retrospect
The porch off my bedroom in Vermont is two thousand feet above sea level. A canopy of peak autumnal leaf change lies below, much as I imagine the tropical jungle’s stretch of green spreads beneath a climber in the Amazon. From my vantage point on the porch, this lava tapestry, shaded and nuanced in hundreds… Continue Reading
Willingness to be Changed
On Wednesday, October 24th, I and a number of other writers will give public readings of our work at the New York Society Library in Manhattan. I tell you this not because I expect all my blog’s readers to show up at the library, but to give context to the search I conducted this week… Continue Reading
Her Choice
She couldn’t go home; not yet, anyway; not without an emotional buffer zone. Discovering her grandmother’s letter inside the old dictionary on her shelf at the office, had left her floating between two worlds; the now, and the then at the start of World War I. She remembered the letter vaguely, but hadn’t read it… Continue Reading
Will You Be Here?
“Will you be here Thursday?” I was hoping for one more lesson before she had to leave. She turned slowly to face me; that is, if ducking her head as if preparing to run away was facing me. “No; I’m sorry, I’m leaving on Wednesday,” she said, pulling the sleeves on her shocking pink, form-fitting… Continue Reading