Aaron Christianson sat absent-mindedly rubbing the cast on his right arm as Mr. Grimes, the Middle School principal, finished up his devotional to begin the second semester.
“Boys, it’s so wonderful to have y’all back with us. I like holidays as much as anyone, but I also miss you young men when we aren’t in session. For you 8th graders, this is your last semester of Middle School. Make the most of it. I want to finish today with a ‘Christmas Miracle.’ I’ve gotten Andrew Smitherman’s permission to tell it.
“Some of you will remember that Andrew lost his backpack right before exams. Well, two members of the Ames maintenance staff found the backpack during their big cleanup over the holidays. I don’t know where they found it, but they turned it in to Lost and Found. …
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The scent of leather, shoe wax
and the cobbler’s aftershave,
pears, broken
crates of ricotta cheese, rinds of parmesan stacked
haphazard on barrels of yellow beans,
fagioli, hard as beads,
crushed beet
leaves, broccoli florets, snap
peas. The scent of basil stops
at the back of the storage room, where grandfather
sits, propped up in suspenders and shirtsleeves, head
tipped forward, shoulders hunched, his work
consumed by their broadness. A ray of light
slices the top of his head, green apple in one still hand,
coring knife in the other, the peel
falling into the milk crate. By his blackened shoe
a grey mouse rubs its furry back
into the stitches, nibbles a hunk of cheese.
– Paula Brancato
Note: “Her Grandfather” is a revised version of a poem originally published by Mudfish in 2008.…
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“Seeking a responsible housemate to join a quiet and loving couple with cats.” The advert stated that drugs and overnight guests were not allowed. I scrutinized the photo: an untouched, unfiltered picture of a middle-aged husband and wife, each cradling a calico cat. The amateur, out-of-focus shot of a nerdy cat couple set off red flags. Additionally, having an allergy to cats, I moved to delete the post. My finger hovered over the trash can icon, but my mind rushed in with rebuttals: The rent is so reasonable! It’s close to your office! It’s great to live with nerds because they aren’t drama queens! It was the last rebuttal that closed the deal. One week later I signed the lease.
The wife—Deborah—had given birth by the time I moved in.…
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Clyde was cleaning out the closet. There was always too much stuff, and he knew he shouldn’t keep it. There were old papers, and only God knew what they were or how long they had been there. Then there was the camping gear. He used to like to camp. He went out several times a year. But that was before he had met Daisy, before he fucked her, before he asked her to move in.
“Will you open the other window?” Daisy called from the living room. “It’s hot.”
She was pouting. He could hear it in her voice. She was pretty even when she pouted. That window, the one that stuck, it upset her beyond reason, the fact she couldn’t open it, that she couldn’t have her way. …
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He heard the woman in one of the seats in First Class say, “Really, there’s nothing I can think of that’s more ridiculous than a trilobite. I mean, just who do they think they’re dealing with?”
That being more than enough of that, he crammed his earbuds firmly back in place.
At fifty-two, the man – who, for reference, was seated in the middle aisle, one row in front of the bomb — could afford to sit in First Class but loathed the people in First Class. He remembered stories of Paul Neumann buying all the seats around his, for privacy. This man didn’t have the adoring fans problem, but he sympathized.
His son kept getting little cancers.
The man spent several minutes familiarizing himself with the touchscreen, deciding what rate the coffee should be coming.…
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These sunflowers
are the most gorgeous
I have ever seen.
We bought them
at the farmers’ market—
$25 is a fortune,
but we didn’t realize
until they were
already in our hands.
Now they sit firmly
in this one-off vase
created by an artist
we especially admired.
A wedding present.…
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Sarah only drinks whiskey when she grades. She is otherwise not allowed. By herself. By her friends. Sarah, you become such an asshole when you drink whiskey, they say. It is true; they are true friends.
Sarah drinks whiskey because she has to sometimes not be in love with her students. Because she has to sometimes not be in love with herself. The end of the semester is hard, she tells herself. The end of life is hard, she remembers the hospice nurse saying. They took turns feeding her father morphine and little sips of whiskey and now and then the tiniest nibs of dark chocolate.
Sarah has had to explain to some students that failure is not death. Or is not a big death. Or is not the big death.…
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