“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 …
Start from the beginning We had fallen into a routine of morning coffee and newspaper. I no longer questioned her presence in my apartment and my life. She was a part of my existence now. She was filling a piece of a large hole in my life. What piece, I did not know. I heard …
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 …
I fell in and out of sleep that night, awaking to dreams of a former life. I dreamed that I was with Laura again. We were watching TV together. I could smell her perfume. I vaguely remember the nurse coming in to feed me another oxycodone. When I woke up the next morning, pale light …
I woke up with a throbbing arm and a head that felt as if a brick had smacked it. I rang for the nurse. I examined my arm. It was braced in a sling and resting on my stomach. I touched my head with my free hand and found a bandage covering a rather large …
Bay City Runaway Home The rain stirred the dormant smell of bum piss as we stepped onto the sidewalk. Neither one of us had an umbrella, but she didn’t seem to care, and neither did I. The water mixed with the dust on the sidewalk, creating a fine grit beneath our feet as we turned …
A Friend of the Family She looked off over the heads of the mourners at some far away point--perhaps at the mural of the fish and loaves on the back wall of the sanctuary or perhaps into the ether of her glory years as a soprano section leader of the Grace Presbyterian Church of yesteryear. …
David Wilson-Burns 