The new drummer was all wrong. “Hold up, guys. Okay, hold it!” Exasperation burred Stick Lewis’s voice. It was an afternoon rehearsal and we were all ragged after two lousy one-nighters with bum turnouts. “Sounds kind of gimpy in there, …
Everybody Should Have a Hobby
Two small holes pock the carpet. My nice, smooth office carpet. High heel holes: the agent’s. She is watching me. Maybe she considers that part of her job. I wonder, though: does she watch all her clients? I feel a …
No Man Is Not an Island
Geikken never saw anyone he knew. But then, he didn’t know anyone, not anymore. Still, they were out there all right, the ones he once knew, and he kept his eyes sharp for familiar bone structures. It was all in …
One Way or the Other, They Will Get You
I am not a wimp, okay? I mean, the thing is probably harmless. It’s probably actually something that could be of use, like an app to show you how to monetize all your social media postings. Joking, of course—ha-ha! I …
Beside Cool Waters
Why did everything have to have a time? The Indians weren’t slaves of time, some said. Bullshit; they had their own time, “Indian time” or whatever you wanted to call it, but it was still time. The seasons, the weather, …
Everybody Should Have a Hobby
Two small holes pock the carpet. My nice, smooth office carpet. High heel holes: the agent’s. She is watching me. Maybe she considers that part of her job. I wonder, though: does she watch all her clients? I feel a …
Buck and Wing
In a modest storefront on one of the main avenues of downtown Seacoma is Sherman Pianos, Inc. Sherman Pianos has occupied the space for over seventy years, and despite the myriad changes in popular musical taste, shopping habits, and fundamental …
It Will All Work Out
I failed to completely evacuate my bowels this morning. I pride myself on efficiency in this department, but this morning things failed to “go” as usual. So there’s this lingering sensation of something left hanging. I hate this feeling.
I …
It
How in hell did you fuck up Jingle Bells? Across the street a man in a cowboy hat sat on a wheeled throne hammering an electric guitar and in an amplified bellow murdering one of the most popular songs in …
Just Passing Through
Cold as Hell. A cold Hell? Sure, why not? No better way of saying that this was as evil a night as he could remember. Everything was late, railroad upside down. Well, as his mother always said, you took the …