Category Archives: Christian Bell

Urban The guy living to my left screams at his girlfriend. He plays his music loud. The songs are never familiar, just bass thumping and siren-like wailing. I’ve seen his girlfriend in the hall. She’s pretty and nice but looks … Continue reading →

Enjoy Indiana! Flat lands, flowing wheat, blue sky. The only souvenir we got were these postcards, free rest stop goods. We went to Indianapolis. They stole our team, Dad kept saying. He would’ve cried seeing the Colts logos if he … Continue reading →

1 Unseen, he slides through cracks, unbound, liquid fear of mothers. 2 The camera arcs a left-right panorama but could not see below or above. Jones, the station operator, tells his visitors, here I see the world, not mentioning what’s … Continue reading →

1 The last time I shouted at my parents, they made me leave.  Mom cried.  Dad pushed me out the door. Their dog growled at me. 2 The last time I visited the coffee shop it was a gas station.  … Continue reading →

Zitana, my psychic advisor, was old school.  Crystal ball, gypsy clothing, stiff Tolkienesque speech.  She looked ancient but was mentally keen.  I wasn’t sold on psychics.  So, why see her? Well, because of Mom, of course. Last week, Zitana gave me six losing numbers.  For the … Continue reading →

I told my wife, don’t eat the crab, remember what happened July 4th, but she shrugged, couldn’t resist.  Then she complained of feeling hot, lightheaded.  Then the hives came. Then she had trouble breathing.  So I gave her Benadryl, rushed her to the hospital, … Continue reading →

Hello? Tell me you’re wearing a ——- What?  Who is this? Just tell me you’re wearing a ——- This is lewd,  This is offensive.  This is disgusting. If you’re not wearing a ——-, please hang up, put one on, and … Continue reading →

She wrote a list of the things she wasn’t supposed to do. Stay out past midnight without calling home first. Smoke cigarettes in the car. Drink alcohol more potent than 80 proof. Mom had died two years before so she … Continue reading →

Mom was a makeshift optometrist. She made a few extra bucks working in the basement, keeping the neighborhood in glasses. She had an old phoropter she got at auction, cardboard boxes of used glasses bought in black market bulk. For … Continue reading →

One summer night, you say to her, come outside, bring the wine and food. The sky clear, full of stars, the moon full and close, ripe grapefruit waiting. The backyard chirps with crickets, rustles with windblown leaves. There’s a cannon-like … Continue reading →

Every December ten of us gather to watch the Star Wars Holiday Special, drink eggnog, ridicule cult film dreck.  Jack’s bootleg, flea market purchased tape has vintage commercials: No Nonsense pantyhose, The Wiz in theaters, sitcom Alice Sundays on CBS. … Continue reading →

Do you fancy me is what she asked me.  Now, in the intervening microseconds, I ponder my answer, as I’ve asked another woman the same question who hasn’t yet answered me (though, being a schmuck, I was willing to give her … Continue reading →

Your Love Is Breadfruit, Falling from the Sky by Christian Bell He never mentioned his song “Breadfruit” fell from the sky, landed in his hand.  The song climbed the charts: most downloaded, most played, most everything.  People everywhere humming the … Continue reading →