Still Friendly After All These Years
The elderly woman is perfectly coordinated–a pink dress, a pale blue sweater, a pink and blue necklace, blue eyes, gray hair to her chin. Her daughter is her accessory, tucked … Continue reading
Waiting on the 13A
A woman with a long, swinging skirt walks with two heaps of lettuce across her arm as though she’s carrying bouquets of flowers, like a runner-up beauty queen making off with the … Continue reading
So So Beautiful
The girl sits upright in her stroller. Mom pushes and chats with her, but the little girl doesn’t lean back and relax. She’s watching the crowds coming and going in … Continue reading
Beauty (On the Record)
Two boys of perhaps ten or eleven are simultaneously struck by a vision. They turn into elderly men, gasping, bringing their upturned fingers together in front of their faces like … Continue reading
To Sit and To Read
It’s making an elderly woman nuts that I won’t sit in the S-Bahn train to the Vienna airport. She nodded to the seat across from her. She recommended it, offered … Continue reading
I Spy
A couple and their toddler toddle through the hip Vienna neighborhood. As they come into an area with shops, cafes, and restaurants, the father lifts the tiny girl up onto … Continue reading
Livin’ on a Prayer
He doesn’t speak English, but he speaks Bon Jovi. He wears a black button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a necklace with some sort of animal tooth or … Continue reading
Oh.
The blonde man wearing a blue shirt struts in his immaculate tan shoes. Even behind his sunglasses, I see him light up. Down the sidewalk a pretty brunette is waving … Continue reading
The Nice Thing About Strangers 