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Category Archive
Trade Rumors
August 1, 2009 in 299 Words, Childhood, Dialogue, Family, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Humor, Nuclear Family, Short stories, Very Short Novels, Writing | Tags: Baseball, Business, Child, Dialogue, Family, Father, Son, Truth | by davidbdale | 7 comments
—Dad, are you trying to trade me?
—What would make you say that?
—Mister Moyer said you offered me for his daughter.
—Not just his daughter, son. That was a package deal.
Read the rest of this entry »
Boy on the Roof
January 17, 2009 in 299 Words, Childhood, Danger, Divorce, Family, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Marriage, Panic, Separation, Short stories, Stories, Very Short Novels, Writing | Tags: Child, Danger, Death, Family, Fear, Jealousy, Love, Parent, Performance, Suicide, Threat | by davidbdale | 26 comments
On the roof of our apartment building my son waited for his father to arrive so he could jump. Meanwhile I, the attending parent, persuaded the police chief not to upset, by storming the roof, what balance our child still clung to Read the rest of this entry »
Perfect Season
January 8, 2009 in 299 Words, Childhood, Entertainment, Family, Fiction, Flash Fiction, How-To, Humor, Philosophy, Short stories, Sports, Very Short Novels, Writing | Tags: Daughter | by davidbdale | 8 comments
Some teams just don’t have it; they suffer their greatest loss before the season begins. Others never win a game but end the season undefeated. My daughter plays for such a team. Read the rest of this entry »
Reasonable Suspicion
January 3, 2009 in 299 Words, Childhood, Crime, Dialogue, Family, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Justice, Short stories, Society, Very Short Novels, Writing | Tags: Abuse | by davidbdale | 4 comments
Doorbell. Door opens.
—There’s been a report of abuse at this address.
—Somebody’s already reported that you’re about to get hurt?
—There’s no need to threaten me.
—Good.
Door closes. Read the rest of this entry »
But if These Chains Should Break
August 31, 2008 in 299 Words, Childhood, Family, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Health, Literature, Love, novels, Relationships, Short stories, Stories, Very Short Novels, Writing | by davidbdale | 10 comments
With every swing she ages—sometimes younger by a minute, sometimes older by a generation—away she swings, back she falls, away. I stand on widespread feet, in sneakers on sand, in one spot for hours, pushing, waiting, pushing, Read the rest of this entry »
Boy Band
August 27, 2008 in 299 Words, Childhood, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Literature, novels, Short stories, Stories, Very Short Novels, Violence, Writing | by davidbdale | 2 comments
More crosstown than up or down, they blew through the city like leaves. At the river, they skidded into a headwind off the water and eddied through islands of trash that fronted the docks, swirling beneath the bridge they had never crossed, and went with the flow until one of them snagged on something. Read the rest of this entry »
Feed the Jar
August 15, 2008 in 299 Words, Business, Childhood, Crime, Family, Fiction, Flash Fiction, How-To, Literature, Money, novels, Short stories, Stories, Very Short Novels, Writing | by davidbdale | 1 comment
He didn’t sleep at night until he had fed the jar. He hustled pool and won: nobody figured a kid could shoot. Mondays he caught shifts at the deli unless the regular slicer came back sober from the casinos. He ran deliveries of whatever didn’t burn a hole in his hand until nothing felt hot. Read the rest of this entry »
Needle and Thread
June 1, 2008 in 299 Words, Childhood, Destiny, Entertainment, Family, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Food, Holiday, Literature, Memory, novels, Short stories, Stories, Very Short Novels, Writing | Tags: Ceremony, Child, Deceit, Destiny, Family, Father, Holiday | by davidbdale | 3 comments
I might have chosen the needle and thread, thereby insuring myself a long if not necessarily happy life, or the bow and arrow, the significance of which seems obvious. My rich aunts had both grabbed rice cakes on their ceremonial turns around the table Read the rest of this entry »
Substitute Player
May 10, 2008 in 299 Words, Baseball, Childhood, Entertainment, Family, Fiction, Flash Fiction, How-To, Literature, novels, Short stories, Sports, Stories, Very Short Novels, Writing | Tags: Father, Friend, Guilt, Logic, Son, Sport, Theft, Youth | by davidbdale | 8 comments
All these years later, I still find Barney’s logic compelling. We needed mitts before the start of the season. We couldn’t squeeze the money from the pittance they called our allowances. After expenses, and what the church extorted in those little envelopes, nothing was left for new equipment, Read the rest of this entry »
Overpromised Heart
April 20, 2008 in 299 Words, Baby, Childhood, Entertainment, Escape, Family, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Life, Literature, Love, novels, Nuclear Family, Poetry, Short stories, Stories, Very Short Novels, Writing | Tags: Baby, Daughter, Destiny, Embrace, Fear, Mother, Parent, Regret, Separation, Wife | by davidbdale | 5 comments
I promised my daughter my heart, forgetting it wasn’t mine. You were there, fat with her, already weary of the burden and beautiful, intolerably beautiful. You made demands: a hairbrush, a mirror, not that hairbrush, ice yes but not ice chips, a delivery date— Read the rest of this entry »
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