a-perfect-pinecone

A Perfect Pinecone

The morning sunlight dances between shadows on the path ahead of me, a happy yellow glistening on the brown earth trail. I am surrounded by ancient trees that tower high, up to the clouds, it seems. These pine sentinels guard the trail, soldiers of the forest, companions along the path. With hundreds of trees to […]

east-tennessee,-winter-1862

East Tennessee, Winter 1862

Two weeks—join the Confederate forces or be hanged as a traitor. Two weeks. Not much time, but it was all he was going to get. He shivered, chilled by more than the cold cutting through his woolen breeches. The red mare snorted. Andrew Fondren shifted carefully in his saddle. He watched as puffs of white […]

the-inheritance-of-thieves

The Inheritance of Thieves

My grandmother stole things. Inside her one-car garage, peeling yellow paint flecked across a trove of objects stacked in forgotten piles: leather-covered bank ledgers; a black-handled umbrella in a posh tan check; a plastic palm tree sitting amongst gray pebbles in a brass-banded, wooden pot. Gran signed checks with a Cross pen that had belonged […]