“The tree with the single piece of fruit at the top.”

“And you heard that where, exactly?”

“At a meeting of Seraphim and Cherubim.”

“You say it’s supposed to have magic powers?”

“That’s what He said.”

“Nobody can climb that tree.”

“The snake could. You could persuade him,” he winked.

Reynold Junker’s writing credits include, among others, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Narrative, America, and The Bookends Review. His U.S. Catholic story, “Dancing With The Jesuits,” was awarded first place in the Catholic Press Association’s Best Short Story category for 2008. His story, “The Accordionist and the Sparrow,” was awarded first place in the Marin California Writers Group’s fiction competition for 2012. Subway Music, his memoir about growing up Italian and Catholic in Brooklyn, New York, was awarded first prize in the Life Stories category of the 16th Annual Writer’s Digest International Self-Published Book Awards competition.