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Through the Wormhole Woodrow Went
Woodrow the woodpecker lived in a maple tree. The maple tree stood tall and strong and deep in the forest—surrounded by many other trees who provided homes for flocks of other birds. When Woodrow sat in the nest he built he felt as tall and strong as the maple tree he perched atop (perhaps a…
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A Relatively Quiet Night Before You Arrived
I don’t know why it drew you in. All I know is what it allowed me to know: You were alone, in the woods, in the middle of the night and a lone picnic table stood on the outskirts of a large puddle of water —— impossible to tell the depth of. Why did you…
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The Difference it Made: No Difference at All
She whispered softly to herself so as not to wake the house, but it made no difference; when she reached the bottom of the stairs little Ellie was waiting, wrapped in an old quilt, half asleep, ready to say goodbye. Mona floated over her daughter’s body—crouched beside her and brushed the hair away from her…
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Small Towns and Me
I’ve been a small-towner my whole life. I’m actually somewhat of a small-town hopper—moving from one neighboring town to the next-all within a 10-mile radius of each other. Though this has been mostly a symptom of my childhood and not something I actively chose—I’ve found it weirdly edifying to travel so tightly within my formative…
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The Discovery of The Human Spirit
I “I’m going to write the next great American novel, Idaho!” I ran across the usual wooden planks, and porcelain yachts blurred white in my peripheral. Idaho was waiting for me with his work pants rolled up just below his knees and his feet skimming the water like a spider leveraging its innate surface tension—skating…