On her shoulder, a gold and purple pin,

A chance encounter in India leaves a lifelong impression She drifted from one cluster of travelers to the next, like a dandelion seed on the wind. We stood in front of the post office, or maybe it was a visa office, some public space in New Delhi, India where backpackers…

You hold up the wall

A short story about a short skirt Is it still possible for fashion to shock? I was young and leggy when hemlines rose and jaws dropped. Those first miniskirts seemed daring, even revolutionary. …

Q&A Q. Why did you start writing? A. I felt I had something to say. When I look at the novels that have stuck with me for decades, the common thread is that the characters grapple with ethical conundrums. Nick in Gatsby, Scout in Mockingbird, Holden in Catcher, Pip in…

A precious bit of printed fabric links us It’s a simple piece of fabric, sheer and wispy like silk, but maybe not silk. Printed near the top is an American flag. Below is this promise written in fourteen languages: I am a citizen of the United States of America. I…

Time turns ugly demons into tolerable imps I was a teenage monster. Maybe I didn’t turn into a horror movie werewolf or a blood-sucking vampire, but I was not an easy teen to parent. To be honest, I don’t think my mother had the chops to handle her role as…

A funny thing happened on the way to enlightenment — I really should be enlightened by now. Some people envisioned their future with flying cars. I pictured not a car but my body flying or, more accurately, levitating. Nothing fancy, just a modest hover. Enlightenment would make me humble that way. Alas, I have failed to float so much as…

Short story first published in Dunes Review, republished by FreshInk app Francie had an affinity with animals. As an infant, she rarely cried when she woke but lay quietly in her crib taking in the antics of our old hound as he tracked smells, real and imagined, through the nursery…