THE END OF THE COLD WAR by L.S. Bassen 25th December 1989. Leonard Bernstein gave a concert in Berlin celebrating the collapse of the Wall, conducting the “Ode to Joy” from Beethoven’s ninth symphony, altering the lyric “Joy” (freude) to “Freedom” (freiheit). Rain hit the house as Cara stood snug by the front bay window, … [Read more…]
VOLUNTEERS By John-Henry Doucette A few nights before the O’Connells held their first and only pig roast, I named a ship I served aboard long before I retired as a corpsman and landed my hospice job here in Poughkeepsie. The mention came in passing, amid a wildly unstructured discussion of our troubles with Arabs, but … [Read more…]
PAPERWEIGHT By Nick Fatuzzo “Alright, listen up, you bastards!” I’m ten years old, and my best friend, Jonathan, has picked up his most recent favorite word from one of his parents’ arguments. It’s summer, and all the neighborhood kids are out. The five of us are sitting in the dry-rotted, wooden gazebo on our cul-de-sac. … [Read more…]
Winner of the 2013 Tiny Chair in Writing TROntest, #TROnTinyChair.
THE MAGICIAN’S THUMB By Dennis Scott Herbert It wriggled and writhed on the floor attached to a string that we could all see but pretended not to because Rodney was trying so damned hard and he hadn’t drunk a drop for three months. But when the dog swooped in and bit that thumb up in … [Read more…]