creative nonfiction
“Memorial Day” – Relief: A Quarterly Christian Expression, Issue 2.3
In three years with Tim I hadn’t let my attention stray to another man. Once a memory of an old boyfriend briefly invaded a dream, shaking me awake. I’d tucked it firmly inside a back closet of my mind.
Now I found myself watching for BJ’s car to again halt in front of the dinging door, its vents on the front fenders like a shark’s gills…
“An Overture’s Turn” – The Best of Relief, Volume 1
Guiding Celestia to the pool’s edge when we were finished I saw Yasmine climb out, stumble, then stand, head bowed. Currents of dripping students surged past, frilled pink, aqua, titanium-sheened, bare feet and knobby knees. Yasmine regained equilibrium and I breathed.
Heart pounding, I caught up to her in the dressing room. “What do I do if I’m around when you start … um … seizing?”
Yasmine laughed. “Just let me go down, hold my head, give me air. It’ll probably be worse for you than for me. Anyway, it doesn’t happen often”…