Animals were not allowed in the Green Zone. What was this cat doing here?

  “

Animals were not allowed in the Green Zone. What was this cat doing here? Animals in the closed-in-island-that-is-not-an-island of Baghdad were rounded up and disposed of, as per orders of the war contractor. The contractor said nothing about the burning embers of a Dell computer outside a bookstore or the irascible conscience of a junked Mercedes Benz—the ground beneath the car ringed by spreads of bullet casings. The smell of cordite, although thin, was ever present and unmistakable. Please don’t let that cat lead to bad luck, he thought.

They never talk about it again.

  “

SMALL WONDERS BY DAVID P LANGLINAIS34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 64

Cathy offers to drive Jim to the airport. As she pulls into the driveway, Jim comes out of the house with a suitcase as if he’s been sitting by the window waiting for her. He walks to the car before she has a chance to kill the engine. She pops the trunk. Jim gets in the car and sinks into the seat like a deflating balloon.  “How you holding out?” Cathy says.

The Little Girl came to us by way of slow and then sudden catastrophes.

  “

The Little Girl came to us by way of slow and then sudden catastrophes. Birth parents with drug problems, therefore jail problems. Lest foster care seize her, the grandfolks took charge. They listed us as official backups, the next-in-line custodians. And then our turn arrived. Early in our relationship we decided against children. I’m already dad to three, grown. Joyce, 20 years younger and technically within range, said the responsibility would tie us down. We couldn’t have planned on The Little Girl.

As much as I want time to stand still, it will always be faster than I am.

Get the mag.

34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 64

THE LAST ECHO BY MARK ZIPOLI, YOU CAN’T AVOID IT FOREVER BY MEGAN VASQUEZ, THE LITTLE GIRL BY RANDY OSBORNE, FLICKER BY SALLY K LEHMAN, SMALL WONDERS BY DAVID P LANGLINAIS, PIECES OF A DROPPED GLASS BY JASON HINCHCLIFFE, BLEMISHES BY JOHN SIERACKI.

Having to waste our lives like this, letting our time on this earth slip away for nothing.