Today our teacher told us October 4, 1957, is a very special day because the Russians launched their Sputnik and beat the Americans into space. “You’ll never forget this day,” she yelled as she hit the blackboard with her ruler. “It’s a day of shame in America. Imagine, to be…
It’s early morning and Grandma just yelled from the bottom of the stairs for Daddy to get up. Through the thin wall I hear him jump out of bed. He does it fast, like he can’t wait to meet the new day or like someone who’s been awake for a…
The Sachels moved into an abandoned Airstream trailer when Tommy was four years old, one year before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Pa had driven to Michigan from Kentucky and for the first time in his life Tommy thought he was going to live in a house on land. No…
” The fading sun shines through lacy beige curtains and brings a quiet glow to Quale’s living room turning her surroundings into a welcoming cocoon. She wraps herself deeper into her yellow cardigan, stirs a little Irish cream into her coffee, and turns to Spike who is reading yesterday’s newspaper,…
The cold wasn’t yet cold enough to freeze Jane so she kept walking. She figured if she walked far enough and long enough she would eventually tire and find a quiet place to lie down and wait for night to come and for the cold to freeze her. For years…
Once Alice learned to load the shotgun, there was no stopping her. Never before had she contemplated killing Jerk. Although she had long thought about his death, she hoped it would be a quick one while he still had a job and she was the sole beneficiary on his life…
All summer Dad sat in the blue metal chair by the front door. “Can’t reach my cane,” he would call to my daughter as she played in the yard. Honey would race to him, place the cane into his knotted hands and pat his knees, then run back to her…
My name is Rain. What my last name is does not matter for I have had many surnames during my lifetime. Rain is what Shirley called me. We were friends. I taught her how to not-love anyone. Not to give her heart to anyone because everyone leaves. No matter how…
“Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. This is my first confession. These are my sins for which I’m very sorry.” I don’t bow my head like Sister Mary John told us. Instead, I stare through the black curtain separating the priest from me and try to see his face,…
Folks, during these trying times you might want to bury your head in the sand at least for a little while. I suppose that’s not a bad thing to do as you pull yourself together. I have a suggestion. If you’re tired of all the noise, the uncertainty of where…
By the time I graduated from MSU, the SDS had splintered into various factions and I was done with it. I joined the Peace Corps despite Mum’s absolute refusal to agree to my going. She worried where I would be sent and the potential physical danger I might be in….
Belle’s soft, low moans travel underneath the barn door into the cold mysterious night where nocturnal creatures scout for food, where stars sparkle in the icy sky, and God watches over every living thing. The air hangs still and light as a lace curtain, and Belle’s moans penetrate its lightness,…
Hot August sun burns into my pores. I’m in the sandbox with my twin dolls, Molly and Polly. I finally got them to sleep. It wasn’t easy, what with little black ants crawling over them. I swished them away without hurting them. Except the leader. I always kill the leader….
Farm Life A kid on the farm with only her imagination as playmate gets up early on summer mornings, pokes her head out bedroom windows, checks to see if she’s beaten the cows. Nope! Silver’s leading the pack, clang, clang goes her bell. Daisy lost her bell last week so…
By Sharon M. Kennedy The day Teddy threatened to kill my mother was the day I realized how dysfunctional our family was. I was upstairs when Teddy pulled his 1958 Oldsmobile into our front yard. Mom and Dad were in the kitchen. Usually I would have listened to their conversation…
