Reuben’s Bounty A short story by Randy Stuart Reuben sat still and silent on the gray mare and squinted up at the tall, rocky draw leading to the flat ridge. He reached into his vest pocket and retrieved a silver pocket watch with engraved initials. He checked the time. The stagecoach would be rounding the…
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This summer I watched an amazing feat of architectural engineering just outside my bedroom window. A colony of wasps built a nest up under the eaves, protected from the wind and rain. I’m not a fan of wasps, or stinging insects in general. To be honest, my first instinct was to wait until nightfall and spray…
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I recently finished reading the mystery novel Still Life by Louise Penny. In one scene, Agent Yvette Nichol is examining the home of a recent murder victim. While searching the bathroom, she spots a sticker taped to the bathroom mirror. It says, “You’re looking at the problem.” She takes the message literally and turns around…
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“Let no one keep you from your journey, no rabbi or priest, no mother who wants you to dig for treasures she misplaced, no father who won’t let one life be enough, no lover who measures their worth by what you might give up, no voice that tells you in the night it can’t be…
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Thornton Wilder, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and novelist, remarked that “Money is like manure; it’s not worth a thing unless it’s spread around encouraging young things to grow.” The other thing about manure is that it stinks when left in a big pile. But if you spread it around, the smell eventually fades away. If you’ve…
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