The Sum of All Games The field below is an undulating Rorschach test, ten thousand overlapping players forming ever-shifting patterns of dramatic wins and crushing defeats. Death has freed me from the shackles of linear time but by concentrating, I can distill individual events. The Champion’s memorial is nearest, the crowd standing silently for their…
Tag: fiction
Nowoman’s Land
Nowoman’s Land Her arthritic fingers ached as she laid kindling in the fireplace, checking for moisture. The surrounding bomb-blasted houses provided plenty of wood, but most was wet, which made smoke. Smoke spotted from her chimney would mean certain death. She was boiling water when she heard a crash. She crouched, peering out. Below, three…
Dawn Run
Dawn Run Just run. My feet pound on the path, invisible in the pre-dawn darkness. Monotonous rhythm drowning out the anxiety and images: bank balance, angry texts, landlord letters. Don’t run. Running burns calories, which means more food, which takes money. Every step is costing you. Just stop. Just run. I stop a minute. Heart…
Circling Back
Circling Back The project was simple: a group picture where each artist painted one square of a picture. I gave John the middle since he was our virtuoso. The outside came together quickly. I started emailing. Tactfully. Hi John, just wanted follow up about the bridge picture . . . John, just circling back about…
The Hieroglyphics Teacher
The Hieroglyphics Teacher There was a teacher named Ben who worked in an archipelago. He had his own boat and would putter from island to island, teaching hieroglyphics at the local schools. He taught at a different school every day of the week. This was just his day job, however. His real dream was to…
Bedtime Story
Bedtime Story The little princess lifted the book into her lap and turned over the heavy cover, moving the pages until she came to her bookmark. She was freshly bathed, with teeth brushed and flannel pajamas on. Her family gathered behind her, holding up the light so she could see and resting heads on arms…
Hail Mary 1230
Hail Mary 1230 The world looks peaceful from up here, the irregular polygons of the old fields and forest divisions looking like they’ve been cut by a toddler with a pair of stolen scissors: straight lines, weird angles. But this is the exclusion zone and the people have gone and left their straight lines behind….
The One Labor of Jordan
The One Labor of Jordan Jordan now understood why Lena said that her father was mythologically old school. “Three things you gotta do to date my daughter,” Mr. Iraklidis said, holding up sausage-like digits. “Hey, it usta be twelve. First, clean the cellar steps.” But Jordan could go mythological too. He had no river to…
Tethered
Tethered “Come on, it’s New Year’s.” Maria’s tone was pleading. “Show off those new cybers. Put my dancing to shame with your robot legs.” My new upgrades let me bench press 800 pounds and run a 3-minute mile, but I couldn’t afford good batteries. The club said its wireless electricity for fully T6 but what…
The Path of the Mail Carrier
The Path of the Mail Carrier Let’s watch the mail carrier from high above. His path is like the stitching from a sewing machine: a straight line punctuated by frequent dips to the right as he delivers his letters and bills and junk mail to each mailbox. From above, he is light blue oblong with…
The Green-Walled Treehouse 