Short Stories


Seven short stories…
Insightful moments in the lives of everyday people who embrace, reject, fear for, question, or wrestle with faith in a Higher Power. They are appetizers or bocadillas to delight or puzzle you.

 

blues guitarist

 A Blues Christmas

“A blues guitarist was a pariah at Christmas. Who wants to hear sad tunes during Advent? And being Jewish meant he was alone while his friends went to church or opened presents at grandma’s house…”

 

Sunset creet

Arms of God

“Ain’t you an Indian? Wasn’t he a Negro?” asked Jack.
“I was born to The People. I want to bury my friend now because we grew to be men together. Come, meet him…”

 

boots

Hugh & Moira

Here’s the thing, Maeve. I’ve never been a God person. Hold on,” he snapped when she started to object. “I don’t hold much with preachers. Never did. And church goers give me the willies. I’ve done my share of sinnin’ , but public prayin’ ain’t my game.”

“Fair enough,” she allowed. “But you lost the love of your life. When she broke your heart, she broke your spirit, just like a stallion is broken. The only way to get it back is to love somebody and let somebody love you.”

 

praying handsPray For Me

“I can’t speak in front of people. I work with my hands, not my tongue,” he moaned.  “I’ll help you,” she promised.
Can you learn how to pray in a bar? Jake wondered as he cracked a second egg. Sue said find someplace comfortable and think. Sometimes, it helps to pray for yourself, too, she added. Can you give me a hint, Lord?…”

 

ladybugPurgatory in Pergamino

“I didn’t raise two sons to hate each other, she murmured. I prayed for the radicals and for Anibal as Father Sebastiano suggested. But I don’t think God heard me. Oh, Lord, did he lose his soul to those sea-borne warriors?”

 

football playerTender Mercies

“There probably were some thinkin’ I shouldn’t be there. I prayed for the Lord to carry me through it and Mr. Kerr stood by me. Whooeee, then he comes out here and wags his tongue about that ol’ segregationist. My pappy didn’t bring me and Sis here from Corsicana to shuffle our way around this Lone Star State. Like Brother Jeremiah said Sunday, Martin Luther King, Jr. is changin’ the South. We will overcome.”

 

The White ChurchThe White Church

“The old woman remembered Alexi teaching them about God in school at the white church. But God seemed far away. Villagers spit when they talked about Ukraine’s invader-rulers. Russians were not the first to smother Bila Tserkva….”

 

 


 

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