When Alice’s body finally died, long after her spirit had taken leave, the girls spread out into separate rooms. Alice’s room was redecorated with posters of boy bands, and soon the whole house became a flurry of clothes, curlers, and the intense noise of young teenaged girls. Henry Junior didn’t much like the noise and […]
Henry Junior: Part IV
He hadn’t counted on the old man dying that fall. Henry was putting a truck tire on a rim when his heart gave out as suddenly as a blowout on a tire. Henry Junior was called out of English class with the news. It took a few anguishing days for Henry’s heart to finally give […]
Henry Junior: Part III
When childhood enthusiasm gave way to the longer legs and awkwardness of adolescence, Henry Junior stopped jumping up and down and enticing passengers to wave. He stopped running from one end of the yard to the other. He stopped counting. Instead, he put his hands in his pockets and simply watched. He knew the southbound […]
Henry Junior: Part II
He has always been Henry Junior. Not Henry, not Hank, not Junior. Henry Junior since the first moments of his life. His parents, Henry and Alice, came into parenthood late. By the time their son came along, most of their friends had a station wagon full of kids. Some were even young grandparents. The long […]
Henry Junior: Part I
(This is part I of “A short story in 5 parts.” I hope you enjoy it. Unless you were seated on the left side of the northbound coach, looking out the window at just the right moment, you’d miss him. He’s just a silhouette against the snow, a bulky figure, here and gone in a […]