Short Stories

23 posts

The Narrative of Marriage – The Paths of Marriage Series

websiteheader_nowavailable2_smallThis is the final post of the series that examines topics from the perspective of the characters in the upcoming novel, The Paths of Marriage which will be for sale starting 1 October 2014.

“The Narrative of Marriage” is written from the point of view of the character, Pooja Deva.

Kids these days have no filter. Especially the hipsters. In fact, I believe one of their favorite hashtags is quite literally #nofilter. It’s ridiculous.

Many of those #nofilter hipster students of mine have somehow decided it’s okay to pry into the personal life of their professor (me) in lieu of researching traffic circles for their next Intro to Urban Studies assignment. So, in an effort to get the legions of intro students to put down their iPhones and pay attention to my brilliance, here is one aspect of the answer to that insufferably complicated question:

“Why did you agree to have an arranged marriage?”

Continue reading →

How To Reach Enlightenment (a Fable)

Katahdin Peak (15_pct)During the Fourth of July holiday I wanted to get out of Boston, away from fireworks and especially crowds. There was the recent Marathon bombing to consider, of course. And simply being around people can be very time-consuming, on occasion.

So I drove up to Maine and hiked Mount Katahdin. I’d heard there was a guru up there dispensing bits of wisdom in exchange for small tokens.

(Actually I’d heard that the guru was Lyle, late of the Enfield Tennis Academy here in town. He had left that gig after irregularities were discovered in his supervision of the boys’ locker room.) Continue reading →

Brother Dick’s Traveling Salvation Show

2_Lecter_4396426518_3321db4057The troupe travels slowly across the countryside. Neither desert nor marsh nor twin rivers halt its advance. But still the traveling party proceeds with exquisite deliberation. It never skips over a single town or hamlet, no matter how small.

In the cool of the evening the troupe members gather at the nearest suitable venue: The community center, the mosque, the empty schoolyard. And there they put on a show of sorts. There are jokes. Magic tricks. Possibly karaoke, if there is electricity and enough young people attend.

But the closing act is always a man — the same elderly, frail man — speaking in English. About the war.

Iraqis by now are accustomed to foreigners appearing in their country to discuss the war: journalists, aid workers, government men, freelance do-gooders and general dingbats of every stripe. But this battered creature truly knows the story of the war. He pulls no punches in his remarks: Mistakes were made; sacrifices were demanded; savagery was met with greater savagery. He also has opinions about the current government, and about neighboring Iran — but heh-heh, he says, he’ll save those for next time. Continue reading →

The Misunderestimation of George W Bush

George_WFor the first time since 2005, more Americans view President George W. Bush positively than negatively. A new Gallup poll released Tuesday found that 49 percent of people view the former president favorably and 46 percent unfavorably.

George W. Bush is taking a shower. Suddenly he pauses in his ablutions; even the water pressure seems to slacken, steam ceases to rise. He gazes downward: His male organ has vanished. It appears to have retracted into his body. Neither mirror-reflection nor desperate loofah-scrubbing reveals the missing unit. It is simply gone. Continue reading →