A Puzzling Marriage Married 60 years Fred and Daisy still are very different people. All day long they hide their differences to make their marriage last but every night after supper they let them out silently. Fred in his recliner works a crossword puzzle while Daisy in the dining room works a jigsaw puzzle but neither Fred nor Daisy speaks a word until one has finished and howls […]
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When we hire people, we like to know their limitations, said Mr. Acre, commandant of personnel. Look at Phil with his arm and hook. We could see the problem when we hired him. We’ve hired others with limitations not as obvious and that has backfired. You and I have limitations no one can see. If ours were obvious, someone […]
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Plain Girl Pretty Rose was a plain girl from a small town. She sang in the choir, never missed Bible study, left for the big city after high school. She worked nights in a shanty diner next to a bar where working men gathered. Depending on how much the men had to drink Rose looked appealing but she ignored […]
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Daily Paper on the Lawn An hour before dawn the paper is out on the lawn white in the moonlight a trumpet dozing after a long night in a jazz bar tired from playing but willing to play a last set for me not knowing I read only sports and the obits two riffs in the paper anyone can believe Author Bio: Donal Mahoney lives […]
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They’re usually poor people, sometimes considered the flotsam of society, always in the way at the grocery store, at the post office. They can’t find their money, if they have any. They’re never in a hurry. They have nowhere to go and you’re always in line behind them, a busy man with people to see, appointments to keep, deadlines to meet. You try to […]
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Willie in his 80s now hadn’t made sense in years. His wife understood his grunts from the recliner where she propped him up till bedtime where snoring was music in the night. His grandson told neighbors Gramps had Old-Timer’s Disease, an excellent diagnosis with which doctors agreed. It was time to move Gramps to a home so his wife began […]
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Carousel of Marriage Harry and Grace had a carousel of marriage while it lasted. There were arguments galore and children by the score or so the neighbors thought as they counted kids running across their lawns causing divots to fly and dogs to bark, a canine tabernacle choir. Fireworks on the Fourth were peaceful in comparison. The kids would light their crackers in the yard while Harry and […]
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American Innocence, Our Children Now and Then By Donal Mahoney As we know, sometimes we can see the big picture by peeking through a keyhole. And in America today perhaps we can see better the state of innocence among young children by looking at a recent incident in middle America. A retired grammar school teacher, Thomas Thacker, is surprised […]
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Holocaust Redux They’ll be coming for us, the old lady told the young man next to her, the two of them sitting on stones under the bridge surrounded by trolls sworn to protect them. Victors come for those who fight and oppose them, the old lady told the young man, now almost in tears, his hands ripping his hair. They came for […]
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Big Bang for Little Billy This was the first Christmas Billy was old enough to speak when he saw his gifts under the sparkling tree. His parents were waiting to hear what he’d say. Billy laughed and jumped and clapped his hands. With a big smile, he shouted “Santa brought me these!” Then Daddy picked Billy up, bounced him on his knee and whispered […]
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