At the long awaited moment of Barto’s inaugural words, the brothers of Mission Hueco lay down their forks and waited to hear what wisdoms he had uncovered in the deserts of solitude.
Brother Herman advertised this particular festival more than any in history because he had finally found a way to raise the dead. His years of solitary toil finally came to fruition one night when a dog that had been dead for three weeks lifted its head and barked. He…
He was stretching his legs for the journey when Gabriel appeared in the doorway.
“The others told me you stayed behind this evening to work the crops.”
“Yes.”
When Michelangelo made it back to the Matias Ranch, he carried the guns into the barn to lay alongside the others. Arecelia stood in the doorway watching as Michelangelo organized the weapons by caliber.
He arrived at the mission to see Gabriel posting a new prophecy. A small but aggressive group of single women adored him from afar, hoping that one day he would renounce his vows and pursue their love. The women swooned over his every move, gasping with pleasure each time…
After the battle, Michelangelo followed in the tradition of great men and fled to the wilderness. He built himself a campfire in a cave and stared into the flames until dawn. In his darkest hour, he considered the probability that everything he had ever experienced was an…
Quincy brought him a bouquet of orange flowers and placed them in the windowsill that looked out on the herb garden.
“Everyone keeps telling me to hang on a little longer. But not you.”
Time would reveal that Chief Tonkawa was not a chief at all, but a longhaired Mexican named Julio who had been confused for an Indian so many times that he decided it might be profitable to play along. He started a circus around the lie and made a fortune. At noon each…
They met him at a restaurant overlooking the ocean.
Charles had doubled in size since leaving for seminary, and he attributed the weight gain to all of the mandatory casserole dinners his church hosted for the unreached peoples of his community…
“I’ve figured it all out,” Quincy said.
“What’s that?”
“We’re invincible. Me, you, everyone. Some people just choose not to be. I’ve chosen otherwise.”
“What if we had grown old together?” she asked. “If we had made compromises. I think life would have been grand. Me and you and Madeline, just like all the other families in the world.”
During the intermission, Quincy turned to Jack and placed a coin on the table.
“If I flip this coin one hundred times, how many times would you guess it to land on tails?”
Our elementary school probably got the short end
of the stick when it came to funding in our district.
On very rare occasions, maybe once per year,
they sent out entertainers for the school assemblies
Someone has to make an airtight case for the preservation of the arena
and popular opinion says it should be Tim since he’s got nothing to lose.
A few developers want to put a strip mall on the land
I once met a woman in Big Bend National Park who told me that nothing good came as a result of people gathering together. She had a newspaper on the desk in front of her with headlines about race riots in Baltimore. After a few more minutes I found out that any kind of gathering posed a…
The Lake Waco park booth operator called the sight into the police
and none could blame her for being terrified at the woman
who walked past the window with a yellow python draped around her neck
The smell of pickle juice reminds me of July,
summer camp, Apaches and Comanches,
a swimming pool diving competition, college girls
in one-piece bathing suits called camp counselors,
From the front porch of our house you could see the twinkling lights
of the Showtime Stripper Club off La Salle Avenue.
Rumors abounded about the strippers inside missing limbs
A few casualties of the internet:
meaningful relationships
getting lost in Dallas
private detectives
face-to-face breakups
Nothing good comes as a result of people gathering together,
which is the time-tested philosophy Randy built his life around.
Working in the service station at the entrance to Big Bend National Park