It gets so cold here at night. The wind from the north, fast and howling like a freight train. He tightens his scarf and pulls his arms and legs close into his body, holds himself together in his tiny hole. The machine gun stands ready next to him, but he doesn’t notice it. He stares […]

Earlier today, I was on the Internet, checking the news sites for any news. I scrolled through the headlines and noticed that the “chili finger pair” (So named for their scheme to win a large some of money from Wendy’s by planting a human finger in a bowl of chili. She then claimed to have […]

Nov. 2005, Little Village Page 1 Page 2 Two hours from Washington we make our final stop at a generic oasis in Pennsylvania. Our driver takes us past a gas station with several buses already parked, hundreds of passengers swarming the few restaurants, to a deserted parking lot on the edge of town. After downing […]

How about Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes? “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” And so on. Not exactly planks in a Republican platform. Not exactly George W. […]

Four hours left. I’ve been on-duty for eight and have just finished issuing radars to the road patrols so they can pretend to be doing something during their eight hour shift. I’m a Q-Niner, a TAI, a Traffic Accident Investigator. I’ve been to special schools, I work out of an office, I work without direct […]

The first chapter of The General is Up uses stylization and the third person voice and signals to the reader that this is a story being told to them by someone. The novel opens with a dream; the General is stalked in his sleep by Captain Oma, who the General knows is dead because he […]

“Hey man, why are you pulling over?” Joe asks from the passenger seat of the Ford pick-up as Luke pulls into the emergency lane off Interstate 65 and slows down. Trucks scream by in the dark as heavy snowflakes fill the air. “I gotta pull this barbed wire off,” Luke says. “It’s fucking up the […]

Two weeks into basic training, our platoon drill sergeant picked two privates and assigned them the responsibility of cleaning his office. This was supposed to be a position of honor and trust; after all, they were given the keys to the office. We always laughed at the two trusted privates as they spent their free […]

“I am making this statement as an act of wilful defiance of military authority, because I believe the war is being deliberately prolonged by those who have the power to end it. I am a soldier, convinced that I am acting on behalf of soldiers. I believe that this war, upon which I entered as […]

The Weather Channel is using exclamation points again. Ol’ Jeb will get all the help he needs right away. Try not to forget we’re all equal in this country.