I woke from my nap soaked in sweat, shivering. I felt chest pain.
In the kitchen my wife had my heart on a cutting board. I watched as she jabbed a fork in and sawed with a steak knife.
“Whoa,” I said. “Easy there.”
The whole marriage was like that.
Over the years Bob Thurber’s work has received a long list of awards and appeared in 30 anthologies. His most recent book is a collection of brief stories titled Nothing But Trouble. Visit BobThurber.net.
What I saw was breathtaking: a vast, complex maze of high stone walls enclosing intricate, overlapping passageways containing sharp turns, hidden traps, and secret doors that looped back to the starting point.
And at the center: a large kite, strong enough to carry a man to freedom. No strings attached.
Bob Thurber wrote this for C.
Between measured strokes and subtle flourishes the mapmaker’s daughter dips her quill, carefully blotting the tip before proceeding.
Each night she obediently transcribes the names of fictitious landmarks—phony towns, nonexistent roads, unreachable waterways—her overprotective father designates along longitudes and latitudes that suitors unwittingly follow to God knows where.
Over the years Bob Thurber’s work has received a long list of awards and appeared in 30 anthologies. His most recent book is a collection of brief stories titled Nothing But Trouble. Visit BobThurber.net.
On each fingertip Papou penned dots for eyes, lines for mouths. He cut strips of colored paper to make caps, bonnets, pullover suits, and dresses. Despite his dense accent each character’s voice sounded distinct.
It was amazing, magical stuff.
When we visit, I march silent shadow puppets across his gravestone.
Over the years Bob Thurber’s work has received a long list of awards and appeared in 30 anthologies. His most recent book is a collection of brief stories titled Nothing But Trouble. Visit BobThurber.net.
After we’d unloaded the snowmobiles from his truck, my father pointed toward the lake. Someone had driven a blue Volkswagen Bug onto the ice and just left it there.
“What did I tell you? Ten feet thick at least. You could drag a house out there and not break through.”
Over the years Bob Thurber’s work has received a long list of awards and appeared in 30 anthologies. His most recent book is a collection of brief stories titled Nothing But Trouble. Visit BobThurber.net.