Vince was happy, walking with his dog, Captain, by his side. As they followed a path through Glen Canyon on the way to school, Caption ran ahead to sniff dirt mounds freshly dug up by gophers. Vince relaxed as he…

So many things in life need a specific setting. If you’re getting surgery, you really want to be in a sterile environment; most people have to drive aways on purpose to sit in front of a robust campfire in a…

[not fiction today] Happiness needs a setting. That makes me stop and think. Images of Hawaii or the Seychelles promise us happiness. Relaxing without a care. Drinking strangely named cocktails without a hangover. Coupling up joyfully. Occasionally frolicking toddler are…

At first, Emma believed that Nicole had it all – an exotic degree (in medieval French) from Wellesley, a college even she had heard of. Nicole's father was a physics professor and brought the family all over the world when…

I avoid sugar. But lately, I've needed glazed donuts....poisonous sugary donuts . And here's my theory: I've entertained, lately, a fear of slowing down. And sugar speeds me up. The more time I spend with myself alone at my writing…

Only a hero returns with the truth, Perseus told himself. How the hell was he to go about cutting off the head of Medusa?--Medusa who defended herself by instantly transforming into stone all who set eyes upon her. On her…

During the Crusades peasants and other unregarded humans were regularly kidnapped and put into the armies of the Knights Templar, as the medieval equivalent of cannon fodder. It took a long, long time to even get to Jerusalem from, say,…

(story jumps ahead) The airplane rises up through the clouds and away from the darkest green jungle. The plane has settled into a smooth ascent but Amelia can't stop shaking. She holds her body still, arms wrapped across her chest,…

I needed to be her hero in that moment on the hill. And, frankly, it is only in the Future that the Truth is actually known, so, I offer: It’s nighttime, standing on a high place, TwinPeaks, A view of…

In her deepest moments of self-doubt about the monumental decisions related to having her parents. John and Linda, in assisted living, Katie Hussa chose me to call. She is an only child and said she had no one to talk…