The Kitchen Speaker
The voice from the pulpit belonged to the Reverend Walter Haugen, who had baptized my daughter, buried my father, and said the blessing before the pie auction at every 4 …
The Kitchen Speaker Read MoreAuthor: pologo
The Back of the Ticket
“They are still married,” Jake said, and the words fell between us like a dropped plate. I sat in the VFW hall with my spoon beside the gumbo and watched …
The Back of the Ticket Read MoreRoom 206
The name on the glass door was Richard Whitlock, in gold paint, on the biggest office on Beale Street, and I had read it every morning for twenty six years …
Room 206 Read MoreBehind the Frozen Peas
Tamika Hughes still held my casserole dish with both hands, as though she had forgotten it was there. The color had gone out of her face. In the front row, …
Behind the Frozen Peas Read MoreSecond Chance
I dialed the number on the cork float from the little table on the boat, with my hands trembling so badly that I had to start over twice. A man …
Second Chance Read MoreThe Pawn Tickets
I did not hit Vinnie, and I did not shout. I did what I have done on the line of a galley for twenty two years when a dish comes …
The Pawn Tickets Read MoreThe Ninth Chair
The signature at the bottom of the pawn receipt was Raymond L. Carver. I read the name three times, and each time the letters rearranged themselves into the face of …
The Ninth Chair Read MoreThe Last Handshake
I called the number on the sheet of Ed at eight that night, standing at the kitchen window with the crabapple tree black against the last light. A woman answered …
The Last Handshake Read MoreThe Baby Monitor
I did not stop the video. I could not. I watched the little gray figure of my brother cross the room in three steps and close his hand around the …
The Baby Monitor Read MoreThe Blue Cookie Tin
The tape ran on for another eleven minutes. Judge Pickett did not speak at first. We heard only the creak of a leather chair and the tick of a clock, …
The Blue Cookie Tin Read More