The potatoes came out of the compost pile thick-limbed and determined, looking almost like tomatoes, given their height. You shook your head. “Once there are potatoes, there’s always potatoes.” I liked the infinity of this. I thought Beget! The potatoes are begetting more potatoes! I thought of who would live in the little house after me, their wonder at the potatoes and the potatoes wondering at them. I liked the idea of this happening: someone happening upon a stock of potatoes behind their … [Read more...] about The Potatoes
Swung
I came along to this place called the Squirrel Ranch, where they had actual live squirrels and rabbits and a rooster in a big outdoor hut of mesh wire. A few deer wandered around in the grass. Postings announced that all these creatures had been rescued but not from what. A series of cabanas and tall fencing sheltered it all from the world beyond. On the varnished log walls inside hung the antlers, heads, and hides of all kinds of animals, antique-looking fishing rods, canoes, snowshoes, old … [Read more...] about Swung
A Century Ends
It is decided at a summer staff meeting that The End of the Century will be the schoolwide theme for the year. Since it would be a mathematical fallacy to celebrate the year 2000 as the start of the new millennium, they all have to agree that it is not the turn or dawn of anything yet, just the end. Ellora and Jane, both first-grade teachers, have been passing notes back and forth with their own suggested titles for the schoolwide theme: The Beginning of the End; A New Beginning Begins; The End … [Read more...] about A Century Ends
The Chiropractor
A giant mirror sat in front of the massage table. On the floor were bath towels that smelled of mold and alcohol. I watched the chiropractor place his thick, hairy hands on Ma’s ribs—watched him, watched him—pushing against her breasts as he hugged and pulled and lifted her from behind. The chiropractor urged Ma to relax and imagine herself floating on the sea. “You’re on holiday now,” he said, and Ma closed her eyes and leaned into him. “Yes,” he said. “Oh yes, that’s it.” The sky was … [Read more...] about The Chiropractor
Damien, 32.
When I first started dating Damien, he told me that everything I knew about cancer was wrong. I had just survived a bout and it had been wrong. I was young, not very young, but healthy. I did yoga regularly and tended to my core with fitness videos I found on the internet. I drank fresh juice. Not knowing what came next was the wrongest part of all. So many holes opened up inside of me while I waited for the illness to go away, and when I got no answers the holes just filled with cancer. The … [Read more...] about Damien, 32.
Bodies of Water
6:32 a.m. There is an agitation in the Morgans’ swimming pool. The water becomes abruptly more aware, as if nudged from drowsing. The September sun is edging over the horizon. A flurry of crows crosses the brightening sky. Their squabbling rings out in the morning quiet of this Palm Springs suburb. The ripples in the pool abate quickly. There isn’t a breath of wind yet, and the pump remains off at this hour. The water lies inert, held down by gravity, walled in by layers of concrete. … [Read more...] about Bodies of Water