Sixth Stage

Eve sat alone looking around her empty house. It was deafeningly quiet. In the year since her husband died, it had been a whirlwind of must dos. She went through every stage they say and busily performed all the never-ending diligence tasks to punctuate the paperwork end of someone’s life. Now she confronted the last stage—toContinue reading “Sixth Stage”

The Case of the Deadly Dreams

Night 1 There he was laying on the kitchen floor. Next to him was the cast iron frying pan. But what happened? Who could have done this? I was sleeping; did I hear something?  Barefooted, I ran toward the front door in my nightgown. It was still locked. Confused, I scurried around the house lookingContinue reading “The Case of the Deadly Dreams”

What If? Peace in Serene Scotland

Author Note: This was a writing group challenge to write a story with a fictional “what if” scenario about a historical time or event. I am enamored with history and the idea of alternate realities. In this incarnation, a time loop changes the scenario but protects the timeline. It’s interesting to consider how choices moldContinue reading “What If? Peace in Serene Scotland”

What is Emotional Bullying?

Most people agree a bully is someone who physically assaults another by pushing, hitting, punching, grabbing, knocking books out of hands, stuffing someone into a locker or a dumpster, sticking a head into a toilet, etc. But physical bullying is not the only brand of terror; emotional bullying often leaves as many and deeper scars,Continue reading “What is Emotional Bullying?”

Happiness is NOT a Warm RV

In a pandemic world of limited safe travel, two girlfriends and I decided to take an RV trip to visit another friend a few states away who was isolated, depressed and in need of a boost. With the best intentions, we rented a small RV to minimize contact with the outside world. It was theContinue reading “Happiness is NOT a Warm RV”

The White City

From her first step off the el train, Maggie’s eyes widened in wonder. The newspaper accounts and word-of-mouth tales of the grand White City paled in comparison with her green eyes looking at the real thing. After seven years in America, she was accustomed to the sight of buildings tall enough to reach the sky,Continue reading “The White City”

What you want to see

Death and afterlife are one of the common unsolved mysteries of human reality. In popular media, ghosts and aberrations are regular protagonists or antagonists, giving credence to their existence and acceptance in popular culture. But can they really be seen? Tales of ghost sightings are a plenty. There are whole commercial industries devoted to theContinue reading “What you want to see”

 Select-o-matic Husband

Author Note: The Twilight Zone was a popular show in the 50’s and 60’s that peered through the looking glass at a skewed way to view certain issues in our society in a fantastical way. In the year 2200, women are now the dominating force in the world. After the nuclear WWIII, women around theContinue reading ” Select-o-matic Husband”

Which of These Things Don’t Belong Together?

SNEAK PEAK! This is a character introduction to an upcoming YA/middle-grade book “Popularity”. Certain kinds of combinations like spaghetti and meatballs, movies and popcorn, and shoes and socks are famous pairs, but socks and sandals or spaghetti and tuna are definitely not.   What if people were like that? Meredith was. She was movies andContinue reading “Which of These Things Don’t Belong Together?”

Talk to the Hand

Before “talk to the hand” became popular, I believe I used and saw the idea of that gesture many times. As a parent, you often feel that many conversations with your child, back and forth, can be illustrated with one hand held affirmatively in the stop position. With young children, you want them to quicklyContinue reading “Talk to the Hand”