The first time I met Arthur Whitmore, he was sitting in the sunroom of his house in Beaufort reading the newspaper with his reading glasses pushed so far down his […]
The pavement was cold and unforgiving beneath my feet as I stood there watching my son’s car disappear around the corner. Eight dollars. That’s what my daughter-in-law Rya had thrown […]
Second Wind The marina at dusk smells of salt and diesel and the particular brackish sweetness of Charleston harbor in summer, which is different from any other harbor smell I […]
I found a biker standing in the baby aisle at Walmart, crying silently with one hand on an empty shopping cart. He had to be six foot four. Leather vest […]
The ice cream vendor gave my daughter a free cone. Twenty minutes later, police officers were running straight toward us. Our beach vacation had barely begun when my six year […]
The Christmas tree lights blurred through my tears as I held the card in my trembling hands. Red and green glitter fell onto my lap like cruel confetti, and I […]
What They Left Behind The children next door appeared almost every Sunday at the same time. They would step outside carrying one large black garbage bag between them and slowly […]
Repair It, Sophia The airport was freezing that morning. Not cold. Cruel. McGhee Tyson Airport sat under that gray December light that makes everything look harder than it is, the […]
What Mr. Vance Knew I should tell you about the neighborhood before I tell you about the envelope. We moved to Clairmont Street when Noah was nine years old, which […]
Guest Pending Patricia liked an audience. She had the round oak table and the two leaf inserts and the rule about nobody starting to eat until she sat down, and […]