Lucy waited patiently for the young bus boy to clear the table she wanted in front of the plate glass window, and then slipped into the booth, the better to survey the highway and the hilly landscape that stretched out beyond it. And here came the same waitress with the friendly face who greeted her … Continue reading Morning Miniature 4.9.19

The onion’s thick outer layer resisted the sharp tip of her French knife but finally yielded all at once as she cleaved the fragrant yellow sphere in half with a satisfying thwap! She worked quickly now, already feeling the burn coming in her eyes and nostrils. Placing the flat side of one section against the … Continue reading Morning Miniature 4.2.19

Light snow fell through the tall conifers all around him; a single flake caught on his eyelashes, and here came others, settling on his nose and cheeks. When he’d first struck out the sun was still high in the sky, with only a few gathering clouds. Now he’d been drifting in and out of consciousness, … Continue reading Morning Miniature 3.30.19

Lucy didn’t drive her ailing little car up the steep driveway so much as encourage it up; the mossy asphalt was riddled with potholes and threatened to throw the wheels out of alignment and shake her teeth right out of her head. But when she finally reached the summit, there was Bran’s plucky little cottage, … Continue reading Morning Miniature 3.28.19

This little watering hole a few miles outside of town wasn’t much of anything, but Roy liked that it looked just sinister enough to discourage anybody besides the locals from pulling off the highway: it was their own version of a gentleman’s club. For Roy, it was also his winding down place, where he routinely … Continue reading Morning Miniature 3.26.19

Those erect ears were the thing, well, maybe it was the quizzical tilt of that massive head attached to them, but no, they were inseparable: the ears that were now taking in and calculating this sensorial ambush, together with the eyes and the nose—that long, long nose which, just before its terminus, sloped downward ever … Continue reading Morning Miniature 3.19.19