Wanda Lights Up
Jenny Page Stu used to put the lights on the tree. At six-foot-three (to my five-foot-two) he was the obvious choice. I mean, what good was I? He’d be on the ladder…
fiction
Susan’s Big Break: “Small Town, Big Crime” Comes to Life … Sorta
Hair? Check. Shoes? Check … and new, by the way. Suit? Compensatory navy with white lapel, well-fitted. (Thank you Mrs. McDougal from two doors down. That woman is a genius…
Elyse Evolves Her Interview Strategy on the Fly
The beginning of everything in my family is my mother. What was the name of that movie? Everything, Everywhere, All at Once. That’s Mother. One last twist of the knife,…
Miss Comportment Takes a Breath
If I hadn’t seen it myself, I would not have believed it. Sheriff Paul … gun drawn, arrested right there in front of Carson and Elyse. The commotion was absolutely…
Bernie Falls in Line
Like I had a choice. (See previous.)
Yachts, Yahtzee & Bored Games
Board games, or bored games?” That is the question I had posed to Miller, the stalwart concierge, when I went down to fetch Mother’s dry cleaning. I couldn’t hazard a…
The Begging Tour, Part 4: Small Towns, Small Minds, Big Questions
We’re coming up on Sheriff Paul’s home, Brantley behind the wheel and me in the backseat with Bernie, who seems particularly reticent today. Journalists are supposed to remove all emotion…
Wanda Gets Herself Stu-ed Up
Four voice messages. No return calls. And I thought Mayor Charlotte and I had made a connection. I simply want to understand why I, the head of the tourism bureau…
The Begging Tour, Part 3: Ambush in the Sitting Room
The Hughes’ cat may have run off into the night, but its essence was everywhere in the family’s sitting room. Though its style was Victorian to the hilt – satin…