Some years ago, when my family lived in Asia, I had the opportunity to observe over the course of several months — granted, for the most part at a distance — the activities of a young Buddhist monk. In particular, as his monastery was across the street from where I caught the bus to school, [...]
As the waters fail from the sea,
and the flood decayeth and drieth up:
so man lieth down, and riseth not:
till the heavens be no more,
they shall not awake,
nor be raised out of their sleep.
— Job 14:11-12
Two nights ago in a dream I followed the sound of music, a somber, otherworldly meditation that drew me into the [...]
Molly is an upright shadow with golden eyes. I have to be careful, walking through the house, that I don’t step into a dark spot on the floor and crush her underfoot or shuffle past a corner and kick her where she sleeps. She curls to nap in the blackest recesses of the house. Through [...]
In a pinch put your money on the red dog.
The sturdy red dog in question is built like a Labrador retriever, down to his half-long wavy coat. Only, in an accident of genetics, his fur is neither blond nor chocolate, but of a dark auburn color that makes him ineligible for pedigree. Normally, he is [...]
His name was Churchill. Or Winston Churchill. Or Winston. I never really got it straight. For the sake of this story I’ll call him Winston, mainly as a tribute to Winston Smith, the protagonist in George Orwell’s 1984, a character with whom he had a good deal in common.
I should have learned his name, and [...]
Let’s take a break from our regularly scheduled program of fiction (proceeding apace, thanks for asking) and have a brief civics lesson. For a number of Whistle & Fish readers, this will simply be a refresher course; the rest should pay careful attention.
We’ll start with a review of the soldiers’ oath, a pledge made by [...]