Parva Gradus

Stories

  • …or, Red Maple (read aloud by the author)

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  • Red Maple

    Mattie placed her hand on the red maple’s sturdy trunk. The tree marked the far edge of her father’s cornfield, which swayed gently behind her. The sky was vast and warm and gray. The girl traced a winding split in the bark of the tree. A gentle breeze shook the leaves above. Read more

  • Stillborn

    Stillborn

    “Do you know what it is like to be born dead?” Read more

  • Trouble Over the High Seas

    Trouble Over the High Seas

    The tension broke away from the helm with a jolt. Mittens the Salty Dog, well accustomed to the consequences of lax reflexes in such a situation, released his grasp. He stamped to an upright position as he bellowed a hearty chuckle. No one heard his cutthroat croon over the blasts of cannons, blunderbusses, and the… Read more

  • Torn Away

    Torn Away

    Day 224, 0630: Waiting for people to finish singing “Happy Birthday” is the most awkward experience a human being can have. Read more

  • Whiskey Gunboat Rebellion

    Whiskey Gunboat Rebellion

    I’d been on Rabbit Skull Island not two days after the Hurricane of ’53 when I met the rest of my life aboard The Rebellion. Ma’d sent me down from Bourbon with the season’s harvest and a tied-together raft of old logs, saying… Read more