Stories and Paintings
For the next minute, Paulo sat on a stool while Colin screamed at him to start throwing punches. Paulo’s head ached, but his focus cleared up by time the bell rang to start the second round. He tried his grappling technique again, but this time his tattooed opponent kept him at bay, snapping his... Continue Reading →
A tightly packed crowd filled the warehouse, which now stank of sweat and alcohol. Paulo felt Colin’s hand in between his shoulder blades, thrusting him toward the platform in the centre of the giant room. Stumbling through the crowd, voices filled his ears with words he could not discern, and hundreds of unfriendly stares... Continue Reading →
Finally, the van stopped. The two young men got out carrying the gym bag and the toolbox, and Paulo followed. He found himself in a carpark behind a warehouse. Colin got out of the van with a revolver in his hand. He checked the weapon then slipped it into his jacket pocket. When he... Continue Reading →
The year was nineteen eighty-three. Seventeen-year-old Paulo Del Santo said goodbye to his parents and the tiny Italian village he had known his whole life and boarded a plane for New York City. Within two days of arriving, Paulo spent all the money it had taken him his entire life to save. Broke,... Continue Reading →
Shem turned and trotted along the base of the north hill until in the distance to his left a large shadowy form emerged above them. “That’s the farmhouse! We have to go back that way.” The famer’s voice yelled above the whooshing of the rain. It was a frightening yell. Shem waited. “Well,” he... Continue Reading →
The engine growled and a small truck came speeding around the corner. Shem jumped back from the edge of the road. Candace spun around and stood frozen and silent as the vehicle charged. It slowed down with a mechanical squeak and a shudder until it rolled gently forward. A man stuck his head out a... Continue Reading →
“I don’t think we can break through this fence,” said Shem. A guttural bleat blared behind them, with the frantic thunder of little hooves. Delilah raced across the grass, straight toward them. “Look out!” cried Candace, and she and Shem jumped aside. Delilah charged between them at full speed and rammed face-first into the gate.... Continue Reading →
They went up the gentle hill from the horse yard and stopped at the wide dirt path that ran from the farmhouse all the way down to the front gate. On the other side of the path was the chicken yard. Hens and chicks scratched around in the dirt in front of the henhouse,... Continue Reading →
In the horse yard, Shem was studying half a carrot he had found in the grass, while Candace was standing right beside the old Clydesdale, talking almost too fast to make sense. “I always knew there was more to all this than just trudging around the sheep paddock eating grass,” she said. “I’d never... Continue Reading →
“Come on,” said Candace, skipping ahead. Shem and Delilah followed. The three sheep made their way across the cow paddock, until they came to the big barn. “Oh my!” said Delilah. The sheep stopped and stared in wonder at what lay inside: a mountain of stacked hay bales, machinery for milking cows, machinery for... Continue Reading →
In Search of Lost Marbles 