Father Joseph and His Blood Red Ferraiolo
All's well at the local parish. At least on the surface. This week we meet Father Joseph. Father Joseph and Nathaniel's parents sit in the priest's office and have a nice little chat. They discuss the upcoming pancake breakfast, the flower show to raise money for the local orphanage, and next S…
Play Ball
This week we meet Larry. Lar, like crazy armed nut-jobs from sea to shining sea, owns a Bushmaster XM-15 with a Vortex Spitfire scope and plenty of ammo. All legally obtained. It's a beautiful spring morning. Opening Day of a brand new baseball season. The sun is shining. The grass is green. The…
The Graveyard
This week we meet Jack. Jack’s about to turn ten. His family has just arrived at their Airbnb on the coast of Maine. Right next door to their sea-front cottage is a graveyard, with gravestones dating back before the 18th century. Young Jack stumbles upon one stone that sends a shiver of terror dow…
Insomnia
This week we meet Jen. Jen’s been having some trouble sleeping. A lot on her mind. Kids. Job. Boss. Ex-hubby. Noisy furnace. And on and on. No end to the toils and troubles. She stuffed her ears with wax plugs. Meditated. Found something to be grateful for. Fell asleep lickity split. But now it’…
Independence Day
This week we visit an old Southern plantation. Likely one that grows cotton or tobakkie. The War for Independence has come and gone. The Founders have grown fat and happy. But their slaves, well, not so much. Folks don’t like being enslaved. And so, occasionally, they rise up and fight back. The…
Stan, Ollie, & The Fifth Metatarsal
This week we meet Stan. And Ollie. Neighbors. Friendly but not really friends. Stan has a wife, three kids, a couple businesses. He’s a busy guy, high strung, stressed out. And now this broken bone in his left foot has him hobbled. Ollie’s divorced. A good guy, a lonely guy. Ollie and Stan’s wif…
The Old German
This week we meet G Otterbein. When G Otterbein moves in next door, the MacLeod boys are quite certain he is either Gestapo, SS, or a concentration camp guard. Their father landed on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944. Over the next year he battled the Nazis and helped liberate the death camps. He has n…
To Hell and Back
This week we meet The Kid. The Kid just wants to shoot some hoops. Get in some practice before his school team tryouts next week. But inside the old dairy barn out back where his father has hung a hoop, the kid runs into a spooky stranger. The unexpected encounter will have consequences neither of…
Inertia
This week we meet Tammy. Every day Tammy thinks about doing it. And every day she doesn’t do it. She wants to do it, or at least she thinks she does, but still she doesn’t do it. She wants to do this and do that, go here and go there, but desire so rarely leads to action. What is Life? What’s it…
Shrunk
This week we meet Tad. After years of Talk Therapy Tad finally has a breakthrough. He finally spits out the Truth. Finally utters the unutterable. But is his Shrink listening? Or has his Shrink checked out of the Game, consumed as he is by his own angsts and anxieties, his own dreams and desires? …