Short Stories

The Transformer – Published in Pen In Hand – July 2024 I slip from the comfort of worn jeans and soft T-shirt, I sniff their scent the scent of comfort, the softness of aging I place them with tenderness in a bureau drawer where they rest cradled like a napping […]

I Remember That Summer at Camp Escape – Published in Pen In Hand – July 2024 You won’t remember that eight-hour school bus ride to Camp Escape. We were only children, children who were sent away for the summer to that “special place,” as Mom called it, on the lake […]

Memory Seeds – Published in Pure Slush, Anthology: Life Span Vol. 9 – February 2024 I feel an anxious flutter in my chest as I try to recall the voice, the blue eyes and auburn curls bouncing as she approaches. But my head refuses to place her. Who is this […]

There’s a Teacher in the Room – Published in Teach. Write. A Writing Teachers’ Literary Journal – Fall∼Winter 2023 “Welcome. Hello.” I greeted each student at the door with a handshake while trying to make eye contact, but adult eye contact with these 14-year-olds was challenging. Most responded quickly and […]

Hope – Published in Paragraph Planet – September 3, 2023 Sirens whined from the Kyiv streets above. The earth shook and lights flickered. Women and children hunkered together underground in the putrid-scented subway cars, while their homes above fell into ruins. Darnya pulled her two-year-old son into the security of […]

The World was Watching – Published in Dissident Voice – July 30, 2023 750 migrants paid unaffordable sums to be crowded onto a fishing vessel. Carrying only hope, they journeyed toward freedom. When the ship struggled for survival, cries for rescue, for saviors went unanswered. The world stood by watching. […]

Blessed – Published in Kveller – May 31, 2023 I was named Barbara Ann before I was able to utter my intelligible objections. I would never have chosen Barbara Ann. It was 1950 and a popular name of the age, but Barbara Ann? Couldn’t my parents have been more creative? […]

I Took a Walk with my Dad Today – Posted on Facebook – Father’s Day, June 18, 2023 He came along to help me ride through the painful steps of bursitis. The doctor had told him you have to push past it. With his help I walked, and when my […]

To Begin Again – Published in Pure Slush Vol. 7: Home Lifespan Series – May 2023 I swear it was just the flash of bright sunlight burning my eyes as I paused in the open doorway   hearing collective voices whispering good-bye. It’s not good-bye I thought   inhaling the […]

Empty Nest – Published in Fresh Words – November 2022 The psychiatrist advised a pet, maybe a small puppy Evelyn could nurture, and with whom she could share the love and attention she so missed now that her only son was gone. Not gone from this world, but gone from […]