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Déjà Vécu
January 1, 2009 in 299 Words, Books, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Health, Holiday, Memory, Mind, Monologue, Panic, Science, Short stories, Stories, Very Short Novels, Writing | by davidbdale | 9 comments
Every shelf is stacked with books I’ve read and reread, or so it seems. This depleted room, these spine-cracked volumes rubbed of their wishes, cannot detain me long. Read the rest of this entry »
Feeling the Feeling I Felt
April 7, 2008 in 299 Words, Art, Books, Entertainment, Family, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Humor, language, Literature, Love, Marriage, Poetry, Short stories, Stories, Very Short Novels, Writing | Tags: Art, Beauty, Bed, Hope, language, Love, Marriage, Poetry, Sex, Touch, translation | by davidbdale | 7 comments
The next day, I understood French. Standing by the curb in my bathrobe and slippers on a frosty morning, looking for the paper in the shrubs, I saw the sparkling blades of grass and heard the crystals crunch beneath my feet in a suburb of a suburb of New York City—all right, Jersey— Read the rest of this entry »
20% More Synonymous
March 22, 2008 in 299 Words, Books, Business, Dictionary, Family, Fiction, Flash Fiction, language, Marriage, Short stories, Stories, Very Short Novels, Writing | Tags: Ambiguity, Deeds, Hope, language, Loss, Love, Lovers, Mystery, Phone, Separation, Threat | by davidbdale | 4 comments
When I’ve finished writing my dictionary, things will be different in this world among English-speaking people and between you and me. When we first learned them, words were something hefty we could thrump with our knuckles the way we test a melon. Read the rest of this entry »
How You Will Live Your Life
January 17, 2008 in 299 Words, Books, Family, Fiction, Flash Fiction, How-To, Humor, Life, Nuclear Family, Politics, Short stories, Stories, Very Short Novels, Writing | Tags: Parent, Politics, Sibling, Speech | by davidbdale | 6 comments
The kids formed a new government yesterday after the briefest of campaigns. “Who’s bigger?” was one campaign pledge. “I’ll tell Mom,” was another. Ballots were cast verbally, sometimes face-down in the carpet, and claims of voter intimidation were resolved internally by the poll boss. Read the rest of this entry »
Baby’s Empty Bed
January 15, 2008 in 299 Words, Books, Family, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Life, Love, Nuclear Family, Short stories, Stories, Very Short Novels, Writing | Tags: Baby, Childhood, Family, Fear, Home, Love, Memory, Sibling | by davidbdale | 11 comments
The humid summer heat was murderous. Every year one or two were killed in our town, cooked in their rooms. At our house on the avenue, a fan in the attic drew refreshment from the night through our open bedroom windows and pulled the hot air up the attic stairs. Read the rest of this entry »
Saint’s Diary
January 7, 2008 in 299 Words, Books, Confession, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Religion, Short stories, Stories, Very Short Novels, Writing | Tags: Faith, Girl, God, Religion, Yearning | by davidbdale | 5 comments
Can a saint keep a diary? Only a saint could think so. For the rest of us the truth is in the life and all biography is betrayal. We have only so much perspective. Read the rest of this entry »
A Christmas Sort of Story
December 24, 2007 in 299 Words, Books, Christmas, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Literature, novels, Poetry, reading, Short stories, Stories, Very Short Novels, Writing | Tags: Child, Holiday, Love, Parent | by davidbdale | 19 comments
You are not an accident, little one. You were in my care even before you were born. You have a place inside me still and always will. I have big plans for you, little one, plans as grand as galaxies and as unfathomable, but they mean nothing. Read the rest of this entry »
Overdue Books
December 16, 2007 in 299 Words, Books, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Library, novels, reading, Short stories, Stories, Very Short Novels, Writing | Tags: Book, Fantasy, Humor, language, Library | by davidbdale | 9 comments
We first noticed changes at the library where we thought books knew their place. Every morning the new librarian had to track down The Wanderers and return it to its shelf. Read the rest of this entry »
Little Red Stickers
March 1, 2007 in 299 Words, Books, Fiction, Flash Fiction, novels, Poetry, Short stories, Stories, Very Short Novels, Writing | Tags: Age, Father, Grief, Self, Sly | by davidbdale | 12 comments
Fifty-five years of job reversals and mortgage payments all come down to this: a slow trickle of bargain hunters with their Penny-Savers, picking through a houseful of used furniture priced to move, each piece tagged with a little red sticker like a drop of blood with numbers penciled in, Read the rest of this entry »
Bunting for a Hit
February 27, 2007 in 299 Words, Books, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Literature, novels, Short stories, Stories, Very Short Novels, Writing | Tags: Baseball, Parent, Performance, Son, Sport | by davidbdale | 3 comments
My boy powers a line drive through the gap just about every time. Claims he does it by not caring, taking easy swings. Me, I spray the ball to every corner of the park, Read the rest of this entry »
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