Short Stories

The first ever Short Story Showcase leads off with “Those Who Walk During the Day” by Catherine Brady, a story about a man who traded his comfortable life for God and a director’s position at a homeless shelter, which may sound trite and full of moralizing, but Brady is a master at drawing you in, and her viewpoint character is not the zealot you may think he is. Next, Kirk Farber, in “Forever Girl,”gives us an endearing, and somewhat nerdy, narrator that we just can’t help but root for. The following three all have on thing in common—a focus on place. Murray Dunlap’s “Alabama” is riveting. I’d read anything he wrote with that voice! Adam Cushman’s story “They Hail from East Lansing” has a cool structure and hilarious characters, and a surprisingly dark ending. Finally, Katherine Lieba’s “Wichita Falls” is a portrait of family discord seen through the eyes of an outsider—a charming young girl named after Billie Holiday. Enjoy!

Those Who Walk During the Day by Catherine Brady
published by Cimarron Review

Jan is neat, trim, tasteful, everything you could want in a corporate wife, which she was, to him, until he abandoned her. Every time she calls him—and in twelve years, and with the three kids between them, that averages roughly twice a month—he is ashamed, as if he’s only just struck the blow she has never understood. She doesn’t throw it up to him—that wouldn’t be nice—but she treats him as if he is mildly deranged. Well, he woke up one day and quit his entire life. Gave her the money and the house and the kids and kept a car so he could pack a few things and drive to the coast and start over. Because he couldn’t go on like that, sixty-hour work weeks and expense lunches and bleary business trips, salesman of the year three years running, and coming home to the kids sprawled in front of the TV, not even looking up to register his arrival, and spending an entire Saturday with Jan choosing tile for the kitchen they were remodeling again because they had to do something with their money. It wasn’t a life most people would have run from, but the profound emptiness Timothy felt—either you put a gun in your mouth or you accepted Jesus into your life.

Forever Girl by Kirk Farber
published by Hobart

Carl Harlon had a singular, stunning thought as he balanced himself against the carnival’s bright orange plastic storm fence: she is breaking my heart. He watched as she made her way through the crowd, past dartboard balloon games and milk bottle pyramids. She swayed when she walked, her hips swinging slow and deliberate, like a runway model in slow motion. She ate cotton candy and laughed easily at the barkers who tempted her with giant stuffed pandas and cowboy hats made of foam. But what he noticed more than anything was the cruel reality that she was with a man who was not Carl Harlon.

Alabama by Murray Dunlap
published by Post Road Magazine

Heather was born in Alabama. So was I. This is something I like to say. In Alabama, shrimp and oysters taste a little like champagne and the crab trap haul is fifteen pounds, pulled up hand over hand, the rope stained brown and slick with algae. Blue crabs snap three-inch claws in the air. I know how to reach around from behind and scoop them up without getting pinched. I know how to pick the white meat from the shell and throw out the dirty gills. They call them Dead Man’s Fingers. Heather and I know these things. We were born here. I’m going to ask Heather to marry me, and I’ve got a ring in my pocket to prove it.

They Hail from East Lansing by Adam Cushman
published by Storyglossia

When they leave baggage claim, Roger carries Deb’s suitcase to the cab and to the hotel on Washington Avenue. Deb and Rachel are sharing a room next to Grissy, and Roger has a room on a different floor. After dinner at some Argentinean restaurant outside of the Lincoln Road Mall, Deb, Rachel, Grissy and Roger kick things off at Club Hedonism. Roger is wearing khaki shorts, a fluorescent green visor and has a disposable camera in his pocket. Deb and Rachel are wearing skintight dresses they bought at Express back home. Rachel’s is tiger-striped and tighter than Deb’s, plus it shows more of her tits. Rachel is more conscious of her tits than Deb is of her tits. Rachel is more conscious of Deb’s tits than Deb is of Deb’s tits. Rachel makes sure to hike her dress up to make her tits bulge. Rachel doesn’t mind that this is painful . . .

Wichita Falls by Katherine Lieba
published by storySouth

A baby blue 1966 Ford LTD with a white coupe top. Electric windows and locks. C.J. was allowed to put the key in and turn it to AUX. We could listen to the radio that way and I could play with the windows. C.J. kept the volume low and pushed the buttons whenever a commercial came on.