Literature

Boarding School Blues: Chapter 50 By Louise Peloquin Ch. 50: “Naughty or nice”  Papa left the kitchen to supervise the tree decorating while the ladies did the dishes. Working in sync, Maman scrubbed and rinsed while Blanche wiped with their favorite cotton towels, made in Lowell. In no time, the…

Rare Birds By Charlie Gargiulo Jimmy and Sue were unusual for ten year olds compared to their friends that age. They got along well with other kids but both liked different things than their friends did. Jimmy and Sue often got teased for being old fashioned because they weren’t always…

Baseball on the Moon By David Daniel The mercury, when I’d left the guard mount a few hours earlier, stood at 30. The air felt colder now and I was glad I’d zipped the liner into my field jacket. It was New Year’s Eve, 1969. I’d pulled guard duty, swapped…

  Christmas with the Kanes By David Daniel The exchanging of cards at the holidays remains a quaint, if vanishing, tradition. For a time, it gave ground to the “holiday letter”—pages of cheery mimeographed minutiae. But even those have waned, the impetus to show lives in perfect balance largely siphoned…

Living Madly: The Shortest Day By Emilie-Noelle Provost You hear a lot about seasonal affective disorder this time of year. Many people find the lack of sunlight depressing, but I don’t mind December’s dark days. I love how quiet our neighborhood is after the sun sets. No one is outside…

Boarding School Blues: Chapter 49 By Louise Peloquin Ch. 49: “C’est si bon” After hugging her mother, dropping her Samsonite into the trunk and sliding into the Plymouth, Blanche sighed “si contente d’aller chez nous (so happy to go home).” Maman smiled. “Les petits (the little ones) are anxious to…

Nativity By Malcolm Sharps She didn’t audition for the part specifically; she didn’t need to. The instant Keith saw Katie at the casting rehearsal he knew that she, and only she, could play the vital, crucial, essential role of Mary in his Nativity. She was a natural Mary, the ideal…

Boarding School Blues: Chapter 48 By Louise Peloquin Ch. 48 “Venez, venez, venez!” The two days after the honor roll unveiling seemed endless. Singing Christmas carols became the sole focus in class. Blanche and her friends no longer bothered to twist the lyrics. Every rubber-boot step on the crunchy snow…

The Guitar By Gregory F. DeLaurier Prologue The Takamine Guitar company was founded in Japan in 1959.  While it manufactures a range of guitars, it is best known for its acoustic models, many with a built-in pick-up preamplifier, so you can just plug it in an amp. The price range…