The astute reader will notice a gap, or at least a slowdown. From March 27 to April 28. That gap, between stories I wrote and posted. I call it the Covid gap. But I was not stricken by the virus. I just stopped writing. Just stopped. Life was flowing along quite nicely – busy but manageable – an enjoyable balance … Read More
Deception – Twins, Part IV
When my sister and I graduated from high school, we left for separate universities. She headed to a large public university with 30,000 students while I headed for a private, Jesuit university with 3,500 students. I quickly chafed under the small class sizes, conservative philosophies and the wealthy private-school mentality of the student body however, and decided late into the … Read More
Deception – Twins, Part III
If my twin were a partner in deception, she was no equal in the deceptive arts. This became apparent during our first attempt to use twindom to our advantage, in first grade. Pursuant to my mom’s separate identity strategies, we were in different classes. On a whim, we decided to switch one morning. I stood in line for her classroom … Read More
Deception – Twins, Part II
Of the two of us, I was the more naturally deceitful. I had been sneaking around since I had discovered – first, the thrill of boys, and second, how to strategically place a few towels in bed to resemble my sleeping body. I had shoplifted on occasion. I had cheated on tests. But I wasn’t twisting her arm. Long before … Read More
Deception – Twins, Part I
They wanted to know if we had extra-sensory perception, or ESP. We were called out of class, my sister and I, to participate in a student-led science experiment during our last year of high school. The two scientists, a boy and a girl in grade 11, were testing all identical twins at the school. I remember several pairs of identical … Read More
Round and Round
This was written in 2016, two years before our mother passed away from dementia. Lunches tire me out. Too intense, too much repetition. “Thank you,” she says as I set the two plates down and sit across from her. She looks at last night’s pasta and freshly sliced apples. “You’re so good to me,” she says. I smile perfunctorily as … Read More
Connections
It’s pretty brazen to create a website featuring my writing when I’m scarcely a published author or even a creative writer by trade. It’s a bit scary, honestly, to put creative work out there, writing that puts heart before mind. But hey, what do I have to lose? At a time in our world when it seems people are … Read More