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BULLY THE KID I’m a horrible father. Husband. Ex-husband. Human being. I knew this long ago. Even before the first of a billion times the kid’s mother told me. Back when we used to talk. Or, when she used to shout, and I would pretend to listen. My best move as a father was not…

WHY ARE SUNDAYS Sundays are Difficult. they are not the start of something new, they are the end. like the last day of a vacation, that you cannot enjoy because you know that it is the last day. Sunday follows Saturday’s funeral. And replacing all the love, and comfort, and warmth, and memories from then,…

  INDEPENDENCE DAY 2020   In this country, the United States of America, July the 4th is a day of celebration, of commemoration. Of reverence and contemplation.   This day, let us reflect on a piece of cloth, and what it means.   May we remember the fallen. Honor the thousands and thousands whose lives…

DUST TO DUSSST – A murderer without conscience finds his just desserts out in the desert.  (This story appeared in Frontier Tales in April 2020) https://frontiertales.com/2020/04Apr/dussst.php The hissing was maddening. And loud, as loud as the rattling. Rattlesnakes! Leroy Dust was surrounded by them, as he lay on his aching side in the endless dark.…

JACKPOT “What do you want?” Not only are there countless ways to answer the question, there are many ways to interpret it. The guy at the front of the line, for instance. Wilted tie, short sleeve shirt, worn out tires and chassis. Long on overtime hours, on dreams, short on manners. He takes the question…

  FOR WHOM THE BOOKS TOLL   Where has everybody been? Safe at home in quarantine.   Streets are quiet, the future looks dim, The whole world is colored in shades of grim.   There sits a dark library, forced to close. Will it reopen? No one knows.   There was silence and emptiness week…

M IS FOR WINNER This isn’t just a story with humor, suspense, revenge, and cheating at board games. It’s also a story about a man who lost himself, and then got himself back. Boy, did he ever. That man was me. I had reasons for becoming a competitive Scrabble player. Professionals can make decent money,…

  WHY I’M NOT A MIAMI DOLPHINS “FAN” ANYMORE Jim Kelly, that’s why. If you’ve got just a moment, we’ll back up a few decades, and then come back to that. I grew up in the part of Florida where the team from Tampa got the full-page color spread on the front of the sports…

I AM A FIFTY-YEAR-OLD PROSTATE Note to readers: The picture is not me. It’s there because I’m often described as walnut sized. I suppose there are worse things. I won’t let it spoil my big day, today. The big five-oh. I’m a big deal now. Big is the operative word. I’ve been living large of…

TINO’S BOYS This story is gritty, and horrible, but it’s how it really happened. “Don’t you wish this night would last forever?” Tommy said, and I didn’t argue that it’s actually early morning, and not exactly the best time I’ve ever had, considering every moment’s been spent with him. Still, I grunted something that sounded…