Fiction

Five Tales from Alleyways

trans. Arabic James Kenneson with Soad Sobhi and Essam Fatouh 9. At home and in the alley, you hear the gossip over and over. A neighbor asks my mother, "Oh, by the way, did you hear the strange news?" My mother begs her to go on. The woman says, "About Tawheeda, daughter of Um Ali…

Rose

In memory of Barbara Loden Sometimes, when I see people like Rose, I imagine them as babies, as young children. I suppose many of us do. We search the aging skin of the face, the unhappy eyes and mouth. Of course I can never imagine their fat little faces at the breast, or their cheeks…

The Island Of Ven

"Ellie, listen to this: In the evening after sunset, when according to my habit I was contemplating the stars in a clear sky, I noticed that a new and unusual star, surpassing all others in brilliancy, was shining almost directly above my head, and since I had, almost from boyhood, known all the stars in…

Getting to Know Frederick

Suddenly Frederick is not at her side. She stops and looks back. There he is, just standing there. He has dropped the duffel to the curb and is staring at his parents' house across the street. He rubs his black beard and shakes his head. Seeing this, she realizes he is facing a rare moment…

Bad Company

The widow drove into the cemetery, parked near the mausoleum, and got out with her flowers. The next day was Memorial Day, and the cemetery would be thronged with people. Entire families would arrive to bring flowers to the graves of their loved ones. Tiny American flags would decorate the graves of the veterans. But…

The Way Of All Flesh

Early in November, only a few days before his son was to take the Scholastic Aptitude Test, Friedenthal learned that a list of the correct answers could, for a price, be had. He learned this from his business associate, Max Arkin. Arkin knew everything. A stout, darting man, whose freckled scalp winked with sweat through…

The Palace

After the wedding, I rode to the reception in a shiny black car. I sat in the back seat between two other bridesmaids. I was sixteen and lightheaded with excitement. I had come up to Chicago on the train to be in my aunt's wedding. I wore a long satin dress, with an overskirt of…

Last Night On The Town

This is a chapter of a novel: TESTIMONIAL. Earl Loden, 52, gets cancer and he proceeds in a black humour type of way to try to redeem a messed up life. This particular section deals with his first night home from the university hospital after undergoing three weeks of chemotherapy. Lynda is his wife. Hal…