I bought an old mail truck at the municipal auction, right-hand drive, dented all to hell, but for running deliveries out to the farms around Presque Isle it was just …
I bought an old mail truck at auction for two hundred bucks — the hand-welded box hidden behind the paneling made me set the grinder down Read MoreMy granddaughter started handing over all her little treasures to me after her weekends at her daddy house. Her favorite doll, a bracelet, the Halloween candy she had been rationing …
My granddaughter started handing me all her treasures to hide after weekends at her daddy — the Sunday I asked why, what she whispered went through me cold Read MoreI have been the school nurse here in Marion for fifteen years, and you learn quick to tell the difference between a child who is really sick and a child …
I have been the school nurse in Marion fifteen years — the fourth-grader who got sick every day right at bus time finally told me why Read MoreThat old pond on our land was dug by my grandfather, back when this was a working place outside Chillicothe, for the cattle to water at. The cattle are long …
My grandfathers old stock pond outside Chillicothe was down to a stinking hole, so I hired it filled in — what came up in the muck stopped the machine cold Read MoreMy grandson does not pitch a fit when his daddy comes to get him. And Lord help me, I almost wish he would. A screaming, kicking child, that is a …
My grandson goes silent and still as a little soldier every time his daddy comes to get him — the Friday I finally asked, what he whispered chilled me Read MoreI have been diving the old flooded quarry outside town here in the Soo for about ten years. Half the county swims there all summer, clear cold water, and I …
I have dived our old flooded quarry in the Soo ten years — the car I found last week that had never been there before sent me kicking for the surface Read MoreI work the graveyard shift at an all-night diner out on the highway here in Dothan, and honey, I have seen every kind of person the dark hours bring in. …
I work the graveyard shift at an all-night diner in Dothan — the girl who nurses one coffee till dawn every night finally told me why Read MoreThe city hired me to winch an old car up out of one of the abandoned mine pits on the edge of Butte, one of those glory holes folks have …
The city hired me to winch an old car out of a mine pit outside Butte — what I saw through the busted glass sent me straight to the radio Read MoreI have run a little boat dock on the river here outside Paducah ever since I retired. Fix outboard motors, sell minnows and nightcrawlers, drink my coffee and watch the …
I run a little boat dock outside Paducah, and a girl of thirteen started sitting on my pier till dark every day — the evening I asked why, she finally told me Read MoreThe phone dragged me out of a dead sleep at two-thirty in the morning. It was the night watchman from the old closed-down cannery out past Enid. He said there …
A 2 a.m. call pulled me out to a closed-down cannery outside Enid for smoke behind the wall — what I found made me set my tools down and walk out Read More