It was a simple three-story one-room walk-up with a small interior bathroom. Terry Sutherland had lived there for nearly a decade. He was comfortable with his batting-stuffed bed, an oversized wingback chair, a few old books, and an antique clock. He did not have a kitchen in his room. Terry’s life was simple. His clothes…

My Cousin Elmo says, “If I had a dollar bill for every woman who found me unattractive, I’d have enough money that every woman would find me attractive.”

Not once have I posted a story to this blog about an unknown person, save for a historical figure. However, while researching a news article for Dayton, Nev., I found this obituary from Fort Dodge, Iowa, newspaper, “The Messenger.” I decided to only post a snippet of the obituary before I quickly don’t explain why…

“You’re the rudest motherfucker ever,” Mr. Black said to Mr. Pink. “Why?” Pink asked, “Because I said what everyone was think, but didn’t have the guts to say?” They were sitting outside, talking, enjoying beers, the night filled with glittering stars and a waning half-moon. It was Mr. Green that started the conversation. “Have any…

Icarus’ cause of death was always a lie. He did not die flying too close to the sun. Icarus was shot out of the sky. His frightened death-screams long faded. An ambitious dreamer dashed violently to the ground. His drifting feathers meant to frighten us. Icarus’ murder is a powerful message: Dreams have a power…

Daily, I earned slightly enough to buy groceries in the evening. Each day went by quickly. But now it was October and getting much colder in the nights. The family next to my tent had a woodstove. I had nothing, and besides my tent and what was in it. Bitterly I decided to leave. Soon…

When the sun grew high and the day too hot, we trudged to the end of the field. There we unloaded our burden and picked up my day’s wage. Back across the highway, I borrowed a bicycle and rode to a mom-and-pop grocery store. I bought cans of Spam, Ravioli’s, baloney, bread, instant coffee, and…

In the morning, I got up, washed, and took a walk around the place because the work had not begun. That night I went to bed in the sweet night air beneath a dewy tent. Three days and nights: no work, little food, warm beers, all freely given to me by others in the same…

The truck dropped me off in the early hours of dawn. I got out and roamed the quiet town of Yerington. I chuckled about having talked of this place, actually making fun of it when I worked in radio, calling it Yeringtonburg, without ever having set foot inside the city limits. As dawn began to…

My Cousin Elmo says, “Sometimes I make a joke in my head, and we all laugh.”