Samir was excited; today was the day his friends Josephine and Ben were coming to visit. Samir’s family had moved to Amherst, Massachusetts, and he wanted to show his friends his new home town. Josephine and Ben arrived with Ben’s mom in time for lunch. Samir’s mother took everyone out to eat at a restaurant… Continue reading

It came into Alexander’s mind, as he was idly playing solitaire on his laptop, that this particular game of solitaire was connected to…something. His vague idea — not much more than what people call a “feeling” or a “sense” — didn’t include any hint of what the connection might be. But Alexander paid the thought… Continue reading

The scrapyard was the last stop for junked cars; they got crushed, cubed, and shipped away. Grif didn’t know where, but figured they got melted down. Don claimed they might be used as giant bricks, but Grif didn’t buy it. “nobody wants rusty bricks.”  There were precious few perks to the job. For Don it… Continue reading

“Hey, look at that, look at that!” yelled Otter. “What?” asked Muskrat. He looked where Otter was pointing. “Oh,” he said, “is that all?” “Is that ALL?” asked Otter. “What is it? Have you ever seen anything like that before?” “I sure have,” said Muskrat. “That’s just a boat. See the pointy parts on both… Continue reading

It so happens that for the past year or two our family has included two dogs of mixed, and, to us, unknown ancestry. To the casual observer, or even the diligent analyst, they share very little in appearance. They arrived quite separately, but since becoming housemates have bonded closely and become inseparable. I had made… Continue reading