Bybee

Untitled Document It’s a perfect night for a ballgame, and I’ve lucked into box seats only five rows behind the Sox dugout. The young couple to my left is discussing his annual night out with the boys, 10 hours’ worth, and yet he cannot recall a thing that was done or said. She’s more irked […]

He is dressed as a cowboy and looks to be about 6, which, according to my (admittedly yet unpublished) Rules of Diner Etiquette, is about two years too old to be leaning over the back of his booth, interrupting my reading, and talking to me unannounced. His mother has something bolted through her nose. The […]

I’m 65. The TV is on because I like background noise as I pretend to do my morning exercises. The man has a few wrinkles around his eyes, but his eyes are clear and bright. His hair is gray, but there’s plenty of it. His teeth shine white to match his eyes. It’s a given […]

Doctor: No more hamburgers for you! Neighborhood bar and grill: $2. Police officer: The alleged hamburger. Teenager: Like, you know, like hamburger. Old-timer: In my day, we didn’t have hamburgers. We ate dirt, and we were damn happy to have dirt. Why, I remember one time in ’48, maybe ’49, we were playin’ football with a rock, […]

Henry Rose is a man full of charity, kindness, and even temper; he can’t recall ever thinking ill of anyone, and he’s never been angry. Life is good, always has been, and through a combination of hard work and good luck he’s been able to retire at age 52 and immediately start volunteering his time […]

Brad Dood (pronounced “dude”) settled into a smirk. “Right place! Right time! Right stuff! No one more deserving,” he thought. “I’ve paid my dues!” Humiliating dues for someone so talented; he’d spent four months in this godforsaken place, just so he could get his foot in the sportswriting door. He’d even suffered a degrading day […]

John awoke to searing pain, running from behind both eyes to the middle of his forehead: a migraine triangle. He pressed his palms hard against both temples, went to the bathroom, turned the shower to very cold, and stuck his head under the frigid water. When the pain subsided some, he stumbled toward the kitchen […]

Yanks (“American”) Avatar (“embodiment of a concept”) is, by definition, the essence of American thought, the quintessential American. Were it not so, he’d have a different name. Here is his story. Yanks worked for 50 years, and he labored well. He took pride in doing his jobs as best he could. He’s retired now; the […]

Eleven million people play online poker; 10,999,999 of ’em win, usually $2,000 each. No doubt you know one of the 10,999,999 — Uncle Bob’s strange friend who wears a topcoat in the summer, the nerdy college kid down the street, the librarian with the darting eyes. The only problem these folks have is how to […]

Harry Jacobs watched from his window as the February snow drifted in his neighbor’s driveway, most of it under the basketball backboard bolted to the roof over the garage door. He watched an easy hour’s worth before he remembered that it was clinic day. “Best call the taxi,” he thought, “get there a little early […]

He was not from here; he was from there. New places made him apprehensive, but it seemed friendly here. The sign outside the building read “Welcome to the Medical Center Parking Ramp.” He’d never been welcomed to a parking ramp before — a comforting start. The parking ramp was full. He joined the circling cars, […]

The note on Tommie “Snorts” Sullivan’s Christmas card, saying that Sister Mary Serene had recently passed to her reward, surprised me only in that she decided to call it quits after 101 years. She could have lived forever, if so inclined — she was magic. Most of my early memories have blurred centers and chipped […]