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Fitting Right In
The other day, after a woman who must’ve been in her late 50’s or early 60’s started talking to me out of nowhere, I started reflecting on the relationship I have with people of all ages. This lady and I both walked out of a store at the same time, and walked the same couple of blocks towards the train station. Once there, we sat on the same side of the platform: southbound. Perhaps it was this coincidence that inspired her to want to start a conversation. “I love Sephora,” she said. “OMG, so do I!” I replied. Next thing I know, we’re deep in a conversation about skincare. Then,…
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Somebody Rev Up His Engine
The car smelled like bad news as soon as I stepped in. I would credit my intuition, but it was more like something I’ve learned from experience combined with statistics — the fact that, when it comes to this transportation service, the ratings don’t lie. I found comfort in knowing that it’d be a short ride, though. Then, about three minutes later (it must’ve been three minutes or less into our trip), as he pulled up to an intersection, the car just shut off. Face buried in my phone I only looked up because he said: “Uh oh.” “Is everything okay?” I asked. To which, very nonchalantly he responded, “We…might…
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The Art Teacher Who Couldn’t Draw – Excerpt
For my short stories, please visit Books Once upon a time, I signed up for a foreign program to become a language teacher assistant. The program would allow me to work and live in Europe. I was hired and, despite some doubts, in the end I said, why the heck not? My role was described as “prepare activities that focused on language and culture (based on the United States, in my case).” Essentially, I had to recreate the American English version of everyday lessons, adding a touch of their own culture. Of course, this was flexible; every school made use of their assistant differently. Piece of cake, I thought. That…
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Broken Bonds
I parked my car by the blue line. The yellow line meant no parking, so I knew better to keep away. I was looking forward to seeing Aunt Marsala for the first time in forever. Before jumping out of the car, I double-checked that all the windows were up. Beep Beep. I locked the car. Aunt Marsala’s neighborhood looked dilapidated as ever. She had been a victim of life circumstances for far too long. Once at the top of her doorsteps, I rang the bell and waited outside. Fiddling with my keys, rocking back and forth on my heels, moving my head from side to side in a watchful way……
