Seek Higher Ground

A short story, in Narrative Magazine’s Stories of the Week: 2025

At the eastern edge of Georgia, on a hot and humid August day, two teenage boys sit in an old sun-damaged Ford sedan in front of a rural convenience store and gas station. They scroll through their cell phones. Ray, in the driver’s seat, the older one with thin hair, says, “I’m bored. Let’s do something.”

Please, Not on Christmas Day

Medium

It was early December and my fourth year as a caregiver to my larger-than-life husband. Jim was dying; the Do Not Resuscitate Order was in place. Once a robust go-getter, he was now confined to a hospital bed in our guest room. It started with a stroke at age 79 or maybe with diabetes that led to the stroke.

Bridge as Grief Therapy

Bridge Base

Story by Marcy Kelly (BBO: sierra11)

My son Michael, my only child, had been dead for a year. During that time I’d been in grief therapy, attended parent support meetings, and looked for ways to honor his memory. I even took a cruise to Alaska seeking distraction. It didn’t work. Nothing worked. Days forward, I was sure, would be lived in various shades of despair.

A Case of Mistaken Identity

Short Story published in Ship’s Log: Writing at Sea