Jacqueline heard the crows and felt called. Their caws brought her first to the window, where their black bodies balanced on the telephone wires, then outside to peer up at them. Caw caw caw, they sang, and she felt a strange calm. They brought her peace in a way she didn’t understand. A young woman…
Tag: friendship
The Friend Who Taught Me How to Love
Yesterday was the birthday of my childhood friend, Patricia Jean Butler. Patricia and I met as little girls at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, and we spent nearly every Sunday morning together—often followed by long afternoons at each other’s homes. Over those many Sundays, we forged an unbreakable bond that carried us through childhood and into…
Flash Fiction: Presence: Plain and Simple
The news has been so sad about the floods in Texas. This story felt like the right piece to share tonight. Mary Theresa was tired. Tired of feeling out of control; tired of feeling lost. She went out to the porch of her house on the lake and stared at the dark night. She couldn’t…
Reflections on a Sweet Bonhi Reunion
The biggest frustration with a Friday evening, all-day Saturday high school reunion is simple: there’s not enough time. Not enough time to sit, settle in, and have a real, meaty conversation with old friends. Just a quick hug, a handful of sentences to catch up, then—before you know it—someone else walks up for their own…
Flash Memoir: An Afternoon with Mr. Morgan
Mr. Morgan was a retired Episcopal priest who lived a few houses up from my family on East 9th Street in my hometown of Bonham, Texas. He and his wife, Anna, must have been in their 70’s when I was young. They both had white hair, and they walked with the stoop that comes with…
20 Minutes a Day 