| |
Barbara Jacksha's Pick:
How to Say Goodbye to Fern by Ellen Meister
1. Be there to answer the phone when her husband calls to say Fern has had enough and will be going home to take hospice care. Say "I understand" when he explains that it was her decision. Say it again when he tells you that if you are going to pray for her, please do not pray for her to get well. Pray for her to die quickly... Debi Orton's Pick:
Hatchling by Pamela Lindsey Dreizen
The sound began at eight that morning.
Chainsaws, buzzing like seventy-pound mosquitoes. The walls trembled and
cracked. Plaster fell from the ceiling. Cora held a blanket over her head
like a shawl to catch shards of sheet rock. Glass shattered in a room at
the other end of the house, a room she hadn’t seen in twenty years.
Roger Paris's Pick:
Repetition by Rebecca S. Wolsk
Richard found out about Amemnos during the worst week of
his life. That Thursday morning, he was supposed to meet
with the hospital's attorneys at nine, but he couldn't
bring himself to head for the elevator. Instead, he milled
about the cafeteria, reading notices on bulletin boards
that he'd never bothered to glance at before... Vanitha Sankaran's Pick:
No Strange Flies by Nicholas Mistretta
Essaouira, Morocco
The flies in my room never give me any trouble. The
only time I notice them is when they’re passed out on
my ceiling or flying in circles above my smoking
table, but now one is trapped in a Coca-Cola bottle,
trying to fly out while another fly squats on the
bottle’s lip and looks on. His wings are too soaked
with cola to work properly, and after a desperate,
frantic attempt to buzz his way out with wings
furiously beating, he winds up body surfing again in
the week old soda... David Shapiro's Pick:
Souvenir Postcard by Laura Loomis
Hard to tell from the photo, but it looks like my grandfather. The men are all young and pale, in 1920's clothes, crowding to make sure no one’s left out of the picture. It’s on a postcard that sold for a penny. I’m told they were common souvenirs for events like this. The man waving his hat might be him, craning his neck to be seen... Didi Wood's Pick:
Recovering the Body by Bruce Holland Rogers
I finally find the hotel, and I ask the man with white gloves if my father is there. The man points to a place inside and says, "You should ask at reception." I go there. I put my hands on the counter that comes up to my eyes. The lady there smiles at me when I tell her what I want. There is a phone I can use, and to make sure I understand how to do it, she comes from behind the desk and shows me...
|
