Fiction

How was it that Myott came to understand the nature of his hands? It happened like this. Even as a child he was, by temperament, a shy, gentle boy, quiet and self-contained, one not given to coveting the marginal compensations offered by an increasingly noisy and unprincipled world. His mother, who managed a religious bookstore…

Not Jane Eyre again. Other people are moving on in life or going around in circles or failing utterly, but I'm still doing business at the same old stand. Every year a new load of students is dumped like laundry in front of me, needing to know Jane Eyre. Sometimes I take comfort in the…

In Manik Sen's dream, the monsoons had begun. Thick drops of water fell tumultuously through the dark and the wind swung around in circles, from land to river to land. At first, in his dream, Manik was a child out in the rain, trying to gather the falling drops in his small palms. He let…

Inside the main entrance to Greenwood, "A Home for Retired Professionals," young Dr. Rogers came face to face with two tiny women in long, blue bathrobes with pointy hoods. They were peering suspiciously at him from behind the desk. "Who's that, Livvie?" the shorter one said. "Never saw him before in my life. Who are…

My appointment with the psychologist (Roberta) is at 5:00 p.m. It takes only ten minutes or so to walk there, but I decide to leave the house at 4:17 and take a circuitous route. Vigorous exercise helps mental health, too, says Roberta. Tacoma in November: dark, cold, wet. You notice the trees-laurels and firs, especially….

When Gilda tries to imagine what Phoebe Morrow looks like, she pictures Amelia Earhart in her rumpled jumpsuit, those fetching goggles and helmet rising straight from the cockpit, long scarf floating straight back, until Gilda realizes that what she's seeing isn't Phoebe or Amelia Earhart at all, but, rather, Snoopy as the Red Baron. Lately…

There was a great deal of anticipation surrounding the arrival of the new junior-high teacher. Olivia Gibbs: first, because she was new and from the East, which automatically lent her cultural superiority in the eyes of Mosly's self-effacing citizenry; and, secondly, because, from her resume, it was clear Miss Gibbs had travelled widely and would…

The two men had not met in years. They had never really known one another, except by reputation and through mutual friends. Both had received important prizes and fellowships in recent years, and so they greeted one another now with a certain wariness and tentative respect. Arthur's new home was something of a showpiece, really…

Arthur isn't convinced his wife is going shopping. She rarely buys anything. It's months until Christmas, nowhere near his birthday, yet this is the third Saturday in a row she's gone. "Shopping," she says, buttoning up her blouse. A warm mist from her shower floats into their bedroom. "Just shopping." It's a good sign she's…