Tea in the afternoon with his wife of many years is usually peaceful, Hubert thinks before he makes his announcement. Then he says it. “I’m going upstairs,” Hubert tells Ruth as he hois...

Fred and Martha have always voted the same way since their marriage long ago but not this time and Fred wondered why Martha was voting the other way

The tale’s a parable and it scares Bill more than any creepy clown hiding behind a tree

For years leprechauns lived under Pop’s fedora. They danced jigs on his head when he wore it and hid in his ears

In the woods soft snow falls on the first day of spring. Two daffodils laugh. Donal Mahoney

A drunk on the subway tells another drunk something a bartender told him. He says if the rich guy wins, it will be the first time

America has had presidents who will be remembered as much for what they said as for what they did. Americans will never forget

I can’t speak for other men but as I grow older I have found listening to my wife makes life easier. So when she said we should move to a retirement community while we’re still in reaso...

Departures from the norm we are. Not just you and me but

Two grackles, black birds shiny and iridescent, nest again this year high and deep in our tall spruce.

At a school reunion festive and grand a young teacher makes a point with a retired teacher

Tim Murnane was born to parents who lived in a small brick bungalow in a lower-middle class neighborhood in Chicago. His father worked as an electrician for Commonwealth Edison Company ...

Autumn and the leaves, crisp in the swirling air, are pheasant wings once more Donal Mahoney

As the snow swirls around them, an old man in a wheelchair uses sign language to tell another old man standing at the bus stop, “Friend,