When James was in high school, his father had been called up to Iraq from the California National Guard and then returned with a head trauma no one could see but everyone could feel. The painkiller-fueled descent that followed ripped the earth open under James like a gaping mouth and introduced him to an empty space that he thought must be adulthood. His father had left as a mighty pine, […]
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John Betton | Filmmaker
A little boy, kneeling on a chair at a kitchen table coloring, asks in accented English, “Where’s Momma? I want to see her. When’s she coming home?” His voice is straightforward, a bit demanding, but no different than any child wanting something missing. The camera brings in his drawing, shows his fingers grasping a crayon. He makes strokes of black, hair surrounding a narrow face. Camera backs to a long […]
Paul Lamb | Twice blest
A gentle rain was falling, but he hadn’t noticed until he rose with the baby. But then he could hear it, could see it dripping over the leaf-clogged gutters outside the window. Mostly, though, he saw the black night outside. No light at that unholy hour. “You’re wearing out your mother, kid!” His words just above a whisper. “She can’t keep getting up, so you’re stuck with me.” And I’m […]
Sharon Blackie | What do women want?
One day King Arthur was hunting in the forest with his men when a deer stepped briefly into view and then just as suddenly vanished into a tangle of trees. “Stay here,” Arthur told his men. “I’ll stalk this one myself.” With his bow in one hand and his arrows slung over his shoulder, the king crept after the deer until, deep into the forest, he slew it finally with […]
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