Start from beginning I didn't grow up wanting to be a library assistant. I work here for four reasons. One, it's right next to the post office. This allows me to visit it more frequently. I have a morning break, a lunch break, and an afternoon break with which to visit my beloved. It's only …
I reach in my pocket to find the bottle #2, and gather my courage. I rub my index finger over the smooth contours of its corners and over the rough surface of the little cork that held beloved scent of Mother. I thought of girls in my past who had rejected me and had been …
Laura and I decided to break up the spring of our senior year of high school. She had chosen to go to a small private college in St. Louis, and I would be staying in Oklahoma to study computer science. We wouldn’t write or call. That was the deal. But we would reconnect in the …
I woke up at dawn to cloudy skies and a damp Oklahoma. My wife and I had stayed late at her dad's house to watch a weather forecaster talked us through possible weather disasters as storms blew northeast across my state. We are safe. I believe I was successful in not waking my wife as …
“What the hell, Jim? Why aren’t those books re-shelved?” says Connor. I very much dislike when people curse at me. I am entirely unable to respond to that kind of language. Mother says that unless the “H” word is used in a religious context, it is foul and uncivil. He steps between me and the …
start at the beginning When I had a moment to myself at work, I pulled up the San Francisco Opera website. They would perform La Boheme that evening, and I meant to buy tickets for Amy and myself, the good seats, not the nosebleeds I usually sat in. I wanted this to be a special …
The clinking of all the tiny bottles in my satchel comforts me as I walk through the double automatic doors of The Gardens nursing facility and hospice care. “Well hello, Mr. Bronson. Nice to see you,” says Juliette, the large-bosomed woman behind the front desk. I’ve never spoken to her, and likely never will. I …
I've written five out of the eight episodes of E-Vatar: A Musical for the Pandemic Age. The episodes are planned; I just need all the cool words to make it a play. But the work is winding down on that project for me. It's up to the performers, musicians, director, and the sound engineer, now. …
I walked home a little more briskly than usual, skipping McMillen’s again. I wanted to know how Amy’s day had been; see her safe in my apartment. When I arrived, I was relieved to find her sitting in my club chair, swirling brandy in one of my crystal snifters. On the living room table were …
This book has had a long journey. It started as a flash fiction over a decade ago in a dark time. Gritty, raw, emotional, introspectiveI, I continued to write it as a series. It was very reflective of my battle with addiction and love of San Francisco…and a hint of a favorite show, Californication. When …
Continue reading As I near 6 years of sobriety, I am reflecting on the journey of this book
David Wilson-Burns 