One Giant Leap for Ein Kleines Kind
The plastic bag is in the top of the tree. Three stories up. This distance means little to the two foot child under the tree, leaping with his hands up, … Continue reading
Neighborly
The eleven year old girl on the bus moves over to sit in front of her mother. This way she is now in the row across the aisle from me, … Continue reading
To Pass the Time
Among the many reasons I like Croatian bus drivers is that they will carry on conversations with you knowing full well you don’t speak the language. A test of your … Continue reading
Mensch!
On the long day before a set of flights home to Colorado, I helped with a Halloween party in a private Austrian school. My favorite child, Phillip, with a perpetual … Continue reading
Not Helpless
I was trudging home from an English lesson with my astounding student, an asylum seeker and former child soldier from Sierra Leone who had the most remarkably shy smile. He … Continue reading
The Rush
In Kreutzberg, on a street of hip shops and Indian restaurants and postcard stands, a young boy with wavy brown hair hurries down the street. In winter, the sidewalks are … Continue reading
Self-Sufficient
An elementary-aged girl pushed the button for the tram to stop, then turned to her birdcage, which she had propped on a nearby seat. She exhaled and prepared herself with … Continue reading
Not a Drop of Worry
A tall father rushed to keep his tiny daughter under their umbrella, trying to watch the fellow pedestrians so as not to gouge them, and also trying to watch the … Continue reading
Carry On
Several members of the Hajduk Split soccer team coalesced outside the airplane. Since the players were spry, many were the first out. They wore matching tracksuits. A few punched at … Continue reading
Dinner Shift
The man and small boy park their cart and are waiting to be of service. Early in the evening, they sit on a step outside a long-abandoned barbershop. Huge posters … Continue reading
Tram Nap
The Kabataş tram sighs through an intersection and a boy stops short to let it pass. He waits with some annoyance, until he discovers something in the last car. A … Continue reading
The Nice Thing About Strangers 