The Cement Mixer_The Winter Bird_Terminal Living: A War Story_Some Like It Cold
Catalog Guide:
The Cement Mixer
There were thirty-foot oak trees in my hometown of Mount Kisco, manicured lawns, parks that spanned for miles, and the air smelled fresh and sweet. Where I was going to work in the Bronx, the scrawny trees were two feet high and were marginally protected by sharpened barbed wire fences. There weren’t any lawns, the parks had more broken glass than grass, and the air smelled of dog crap and urine.As Senator Carmen Marini’s communications director, I was duty-bound to spend forty hours a week in a claustrophobic, crime-ridden dump. My friends said it would make a man of me if I didn’t kill me.I...
The Winter Bird
It is the middle of December, and almost everything here is covered in white sheets. Every tree I perch on makes my feathers rise. Getting stuck in this situation is what happens when you don't migrate. All the birds left, including my human friend, Jennie. She used to live in the cheese-shaped house around the corner. Most of the time we play Find the Peanut, Hide and Seek, or the Silent Game. She is out of town for a few days. I believe she had said that she would come back when she was ninety-nine years old to see me. Until then, some other people came into the huge house and kept saying...
Terminal Living: A War Story
Like an Orwellian novel, I had been sent to Korea in 1984 to help defend democracy, crossing the International Date Line on Valentine’s Day where the clocks were all striking thirteen o’clock. After six months in Korea, I had decided to catch a flight home to get married in Marquette, Michigan. One of the perks about being in the service is that you can fly free, but as you may have guessed there is a catch. And the catch is what this near nonfiction tale is about. Catching a free flight from Osan Air Base to Yokota, Japan was easy. The flight took only about an hour, but once there, time...
Some Like It Cold
David came from a long line of Rom-com protagonists. His parents had met on a blind date not realizing that his father was a corporate lawyer working for the multinational that was trying to buyout his mother’s quirky little bookshop so they could build high-rise apartments. Needless to say high jinks ensued, hearts were warmed, and Dwww.onedoor.ccavid had spent his adolescent summers working at his parents bookshop. His grandmother had been best friends with his grandfather and had even agreed to be the “best man” at his wedding before they realised, they were meant to be together. Frankly David had always...