The teacher tells the third grade the order of the seasons cannot be changed. Summer, fall, winter, spring arrive in order, then start over.

Day and night preachers hawk the Message of the Cross on television. Once a month they pause and beg for money for

Jesse was a common man he never made a lot of money he had a troubled marriage. His wife left him for another man he never saw his kids again.

In two more hours I’ll have to sh… shave and coffee-prop my lids and otherwise prepare for day. It’… and now the barkeep, Griggs, is rushing me, the first

Wally read something he thought good advice for those who lose the race. “Make friends of the

When Martha gets home from cooking class this afternoon, Martin will be gone after 30 years of marriage. Martha won’t know why

On the table by the window balanced on its spine this leaflet butterfly open and still as a

Someone you respect does something that sticks in your craw like a fish bone dining in a crab shack. You try to cough it up

It’s a kindergarten soccer team and Jack’s the biggest kid. His father is the coach. The team is undefeated but there’s a problem

She was just an old lady who lived next door. I’d wave and smile and give a nice hello but nothing more.

It’s time to leave the man alone. He’s getting old, his wife says. He’s really slowing down. He’s always been a man occupied with one thing

A spindly young fawn wanders away from its doe. Coyotes must eat. Donal Mahoney

You drive down the same country road every day at dawn and see through plumes of dust

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

It’s climate change, the professor says, that’s causing all the hurricanes and floods, wildfires and tornadoes,