BETWEEN COUNTRIES by Ira Sukrungruang In a restaurant in Chiang Mai, the twins urge me to move to Thailand. They are the youngest of my mother’s siblings, fifty-eight, and are identical except for their hairstyles. Often, they bicker and sound like meowing cats. Today, however, they are on the same page. I sip coffee. It’s … [Read more…]
SOUTHERN GOTHIC by Deborah Rudacille A man named Knuckles is running for sheriff of the Florida county where my Uncle Al settled after he retired from the Air Force in 1971. The current sheriff is named Slaughter. My aunt and cousins were bemused by my exclamations of glee over these Dickensian surnames when I visited in … [Read more…]
MY LIFE IN THERAPY by Marion Winik Not long after I moved to Baltimore in 2009, I realized that I needed help. I was still a mess about the implosion of my marriage, I was having no luck with dating, and neither hot yoga, white wine, or what was left in the prescription bottle from … [Read more…]
SHARK WEEK by Elisabeth Lanser-Rose Jude gave me a hug and ran his eyes up and down my body, the primordial scan. “Lisa, your photos don’t do you justice.” “I only put up the bad ones.” “Smart!” He whisked imaginary sweat off his brow and then opened the hatch of his Land Rover. “You wouldn’t … [Read more…]
DISMANTLING THE PIANO by Jonathan Fink Almost a year to the day before my wedding, I find myself spacing tools (wire cutters, gloves, a drill, pliers, and a sledgehammer) across a blanket in the soon-to-be guest bedroom or sitting room of my house. An aging upright piano rests along one wall. The piano’s height is … [Read more…]