The Maine Thing (continued)

The second full day of my trip to Maine, we drove north up the coast as far as Belfast. (Maine seems to have a high percentage of towns named after European cities and countries, although not necessarily pronounced the same way. Calais, for example, is pronounced “Callus” by the locals.) Beautiful day of blue skies, blue…

Sideshow (Part V)

It was impossible for Rosemary appreciate the scene before her; Norah’s vast rump hung almost to the floor on both sides of the red velvet stool and she trembled all over with excitement and the effort of not crying—not yet.  Marko the Magnificent caught her eye and gestured once with the tip of his leather…

Sideshow (Part IV)

It was easier than she ever imagined for Rosemary to run away with the circus.  She simply lingered on the porch after supper until Aunt Fanny finally went to bed, grumbling about night chills and willful, headstrong girls and what was the world coming to when children didn’t do as bid by their elders.  Earlier,…

Sideshow (Part III)

Perched on the peaked porch roof over her aunt’s porch, Jack told Rosemary about his life with the circus, and how the stars looked away across the world in other skies.  He brought the clowns, the contortionists, even the dry, gray hide of the elephants to life for Rosemary, all the time watching her face…

Sideshow (Part I)

I’m getting ready for a week of vacation in Maine–good friends, pretty country, lots of lobster–and plenty of locavoracious topics to discuss when I return! While I’m away, though, I thought I’d publish this short story in six installments. It’s one of my favorites, and one that’s been rejected by every editor who’s ever read…