She felt the hot tears welling up in her eyes and hated herself for them, for this juvenile, knee-jerk reaction to garden-variety bad luck. And for feeling so out of control. Where was the sense of adventure that had come all this way with her only a few short weeks ago, when feeling in control … Continue reading Morning Miniature 6.14.19

However many recreational boaters on the Tennessee River insist on Jimmy Buffet as their Saturday afternoon soundtrack, crooning about his blown-out flip-flop, or frozen concoctions, or tourists covered in oil, none can change the valley through which its main channel flows—nor any of its lakes, nor its kudzu-covered shorelines—into the tropics that are the centerpiece … Continue reading Morning Miniature 6.7.19

“I wish you were a mouser.” Charley wagged her tail enthusiastically, gazing intently at the large chunk of watermelon Lucy was about to pop inside her mouth. A trail of pinkish juice that started at her wrist now followed the contour of her arm all the way to her elbow, where it dripped onto the … Continue reading Morning Miniature 5.29.19

“He HERE! He HERE!” Andy was beside himself, but Cessily, in her haste to get outside, simply mowed her brother down; unfazed, Andy popped up and ran after her. He had no hope of catching up, but with each passing year the gaps that separated them—all save intellect—narrowed. The screen door slammed behind the children … Continue reading Morning Miniature 5.23.19

The rain at first came in fits and starts, a few small droplets plunking against the plate glass window. As she was in no particular hurry to leave, Lucy sat in the booth and watched them; she liked how they stretched out long as soon as they hit the glass, but then ran out of … Continue reading Morning Miniature 5.17.19

So engrossed was she, scrolling through page after page of the squiggly little glass makers’ marks, that Lucy at first missed the phone lighting up at her elbow; she caught it just before it vibrated itself right off the table. The name ‘Susanna’ glowed on the little glass screen, positioned above a positively radiant photo … Continue reading Morning Miniature 5.14.19

Lucy was determined to thin out the daffodils, or weed them, or whatever one does to two solid acres of ancient bulbs suffering from years or even decades of neglect, but it was still too soon for her to fully realize the scope of this project, an epiphany that might have dissuaded her from starting … Continue reading Morning Miniature 5.3.19

Lucy was glad nobody had been around to see her struggle to heft a reluctant 60-pound shepherdish mix into Bran’s enormous claw-footed bathtub. The dog was smelly, itchy, and filthy, and there was no way Lucy could tolerate her inside the house, sweet as her disposition seemed, until they got this business over with. Armed … Continue reading Morning Miniature 4.30.19

Animal Control was only a hair’s breadth from the county line. The squat cinderblock building lay in the shadow of a wooded ridge that blocked most of what should have been exquisite early morning sunlight; on the other side of the ridge was one of the worst neighborhoods in the area, now awash in that … Continue reading Morning Miniature 4.26.19