Tag: Fiction
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Amy Sage
Eli EhrenpreisChicago, Illinois, United States During my medical training in the 90s, Amy Sage was a real standout. She was a fellow in the gastroenterology program at the university hospital. She was tall, muscular, and had blonde hair. She had quite a presence at work, parking her motorcycle on the street near the hospital, walking…
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Romantique
Jonathan B. FerriniLa Jolla, California, United States “I live in a world of spring showers of acrylic and watercolor droplets painting the score on the pavement of a Chopin nocturne.” These were the last words my brother Marshal spoke to me ten years ago at our dad’s funeral. I welcomed the opportunity to see him…
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A celebrated occasion
Eli EhrenpreisChicago, Illinois, United States She arrives at the office early, looking as if she stepped from a portrait. Her blue eyes glimmer with tears. “My gynecologist has been treating me for hemorrhoids, but the bleeding has been getting worse. It started when I had my boys.” This is not usually a serious problem at…
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It always comes down to medicine
Matthew TurnerWashington, United States For six days, the brigands held a knife to the city’s throat. Outside a handful of settlements far to the northeast—which any of the city’s inhabitants would firmly tell you didn’t count—Charleston was the jewel of England’s possessions in the New World. The wealth that the port city generated had fattened…
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Scar
Michael Loyd GrayKalamazoo, Michigan Alice ran a finger along the scar on his arm and he slowly woke up, his eyes focusing in the dark. She had been watching him sleep. He rolled over to face her. “Can’t you sleep?” she said. “I had a bad dream.” She ran her finger along the scar again.…
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The emergency room doctor
Rob OttesenVero Beach, Florida, United States If you were to ask me, I like to have a glazed doughnut before I go to sleep because the sugar in the doughnut inhibits my body’s production of orexin, a neuropeptide, thereby ensuring a peaceful slumber. I also like the taste of the doughnut and the warm and fuzzy…
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The flower lady
Jonathan B. FerriniLa Jolla, California, United States Photos by author. The Flores Family Flower Shop was founded by my grandfather as a roadside stand. It has now been a favorite flower shop in San Diego for the past fifty years. Six days a week at 4:30 in the morning, I drive the truck to the…
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Qualis artifex pereo
Henri Colt Laguna Beach, California, United States Translation: “What an artist the world is losing with me!”— cited by Suctonius, The Twelve Caesars, Nero 49; Loeb ed., 2:177 Michael had jet black hair and sorrowful brown eyes that sparkled when he smiled, which was often. Sprawled on his lounge chair every Saturday, he soaked up the…
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In Aristotle’s footsteps
Henri ColtLaguna Beach, California, United States Squatting on a cement slab, the old doctor watched sea urchins bristle their spines in clear Aegean waters. His short brown tunic covered shoulders broad as an oxen’s chest. He flexed his tanned, muscular forearms and clenched his fists, then rolled his cotton trousers up to his knees and…