dreamszilla

Molly learns some questionable morality from her scheming grandmother; by James Mulhern. Nonna slipped; her wig flew into a mound of snow. "My back!" "Help!" I yelled. A crowd surrounded us. "Someone, call an ambulance," Nonna screamed. "Don't no one touch me." Her coat and pants were torn. The bank manager said, "Let me assist you." Nonna said, "Keep away! Your maintenance person must be a bombast . He should be fired for leaving that ice." She moaned, mascara a dirty mess on her wet cheeks. "I've got your wig," a hunched-back elderly woman said. "Do you want me to put it back on?" "Are you crazy? What's a wig gonna do for me? What I need is an ambulance." "Ma'am, an ambulance is on the way," the manager said. He reminded me of Robert Redford, the good-looking actor. "I was only trying to help," the lady said, handing the wig to a twenty-so...

In Nazi Germany, a US diplomat discovers a clandestine smuggling operation, and must make a difficult choice; by David W Landrum. My secretary told me the meeting with Golper was on and that he was waiting for me at a small restaurant seven miles away. Since it was urgent, I left at once. I stuck the reports of the incident that involved him into a diplomatic case, headed to the garage, and threw the satchel into the sidecar of my BMW R75 motorcycle. I am the only US diplomat who lives in this part of the German state of Prussia. We have a Consulate in Konigsberg, but there are enough Americans in the local settlements and surrounding countryside to warrant having a representative for them so they did not have to go all the way to K-Town when they needed something or got into a scrape. I pulled out on the road that led to the largest town in the area. To my left, the Baltic, grey and choppy, spread north toward Scandinavia and the Arctic. Gulls screeched. The road was clear that m...

Ethel and Elizabeth take diabolical action to avoid a visit from their abusive uncle; by Alexander Richardson.  Elizabeth clutched the book under one arm and held the wicker basket in the other as she took the steps down two at a time. She reached the front hall, and was about to run out the door when he spoke. "Lizzie? Just where is it you're goin' to, girl?" She turned to her father. He wore soiled overalls, and was rubbing an oil-spotted rag between his hands. "Up to the hills, Pa," she said. "Me and Ethel gonna have a picnic." He nodded, moving the rag from one hand to the other. "Y'all finish cleanin' your room?" "Yes, Pa, and I'll dust again 'fore bed." He smiled. "Good girl, Lizzie. I want ever'thing lookin' nice for your uncle." She felt a knot in her stomach, and swallowed. "Yes, Pa." He squinted. "What's that book you got?" Elizabeth clenche...

“Please God, don’t let my Papa die this week. That’s all I got to say. Amen.” That was my 9-year-old grandson’s prayer when he had to go home early because my husband was admitted to the hospital. It started late one night a few weeks ago when I woke up and heard my husband stumbling through the dark hallway. I got up quickly and went to him. He didn’t seem to know where he was, and when I tried to help him I realized his skin was hot and didn’t seem to know who I was. I took his temperature. It was 100.2, and by the time I got him a cold glass of water and Tylenol, it had risen to 101.8. He said his head hurt. Earlier that evening, when he came to the table for dinner, his hands were shaking. He could barely hold his glass. Our grandsons, who were visiting for the week, said, “What’s wrong, Papa.” He told them he didn’t know and said he wasn’t hungry and left the table. I asked him if he felt bad, and he said he had a little headache, but he was fine. Because we had two young gr...

In a Chicago suburb in 1975, Jewish teenager Robert Friedman tries to muster the courage to ask out his crush, Sandy Auerbach; by Mitchell Waldman. It was the year the Nazis were threatening to march in Robert Friedman's hometown. It was another so-so year for the Cubs who hadn't won a World Series since 1908. And it was the year that Robert Friedman's interest in the Cubs was starting to be overshadowed by something else...
 Robert was seventeen years old and had never been on a date. It wasn't that he wasn't interested in girls. It wasn't even that he couldn't imagine why any girl would go out with him, but instead that he didn't know if any girl on earth even knew he existed. Earth, for this purpose, being the country of the United States, State of Illinois, village of Skokie, and high school, Niles North High. He didn't know how to act with girls, didn't know what to say to them, got flustered, sweaty palms, knocking knees, pink cheeks...