I worked with two men in construction for a while. As it usually goes with these types of rough men, their transformation into builders has a reason. I generally try to find that. Little clues into their life are splattered here and there. It just takes the right key, and the lock springs open. This … More The Gift of Normalcy
Alaska, that Cruel Mistress We paid our rent to Alaska dearly that summer. The most beautiful places in the world charge the highest. Alaska charges the most. The landscape will bring you to your knees, but in turn you will pay in weather, darkness, cold and sanity. I spent those short summer months in a … More Alba Sulla Montagna (Part 1)
Clouds mix with fog, the air is heavy and cold. It stings against my cheeks. My breath tumbles out of my lungs and spills into frost against my beard. I wish it would leave. But it stays. The mountain’s layer of crystal crunches against my boots. It crushes about like so many pieces of glass. … More Broken Promise
“Mister, you shouldn’t be out here.” She is young, at least I think. I can’t tell. “I needed a minute.” I reply. “Well I was going to smoke.” She says. “It won’t do to have you around when I do that. “Smoking is bad for you.” “Honey, we are beyond that.” She replies, laughing. … More The World Learned to Sing Again
The winter winds would blow down from the mountains. The snow from the peak would come down and coat the trees even when the sky was clear sometimes. Their cabin was built just below the tree line where the trees still grew tall and could shield it from the worst of the mountain gusts. She … More A Forest Spring
Jacque slowly made his way up the path to the crest of the hill. There sat a bench and table. It overlooked the ocean and the boats in the bay. He pulled out a bottle of scotch and two glasses from his bag. His old hands trembled now, not like in days before. He would … More A Great Adventure Together
This is an older piece of fiction I wrote years ago after binge watching films based on Ireland’s “Troubles.” It’s not particularly good, but I’m quite fond of it. The old wooden chairs mingled with new metal ones. The bar stools were still here, still antiques. They would probably keep them, he thought, … More A Conversation
The floor was worn into a rut and the floorboard creak noise was nearly constant as patrons, drunks, and whorish men and women walked the same track to the beat up bar. They queued politely and sometimes not to order meals and drinks but mostly drinks. He sat there holding his beer in the dusty … More Where the Floor Wears
His face is weather beaten. It’s leather from the wind and rain. He sits in a hard plastic chair. The light is harsh and accentuates a scar he received in a drunken bar fight years ago. It is round like the broken tumbler that an angry drunk smashed into it. His eyes are dark and … More Wind Fighters
The leaves finally had started to turn their proper color. The nakedness of the trees was merely gone. Summer would be here soon and the cold mistress of the snow, winter would be but a memory. Until it came back. It didn’t matter. She stared at the trees thought the window and thought beautiful things … More May, When the Trees Turned Green
Storied By Josh 