Short Stories
(in the order of when I wrote them)
“Jejune Loon”: On the eve of a man’s wedding, a secret is revealed that threatens to change everything. Published in the February 9, 2022 edition of The Headlight Review
“The Monkey’s Got It”: An idyllic round of Caribbean golf is interrupted by a monkey, leading to other complications for the foursome. Published in the Spring 2022 edition of INK Babies Literary Magazine
“Woman By The Lake”: A chance encounter with a woman by a canoer blown ashore leads him to an intense romantic vision as well as reflections on his life. Winner of the San Antonio Writers Guild’s award for best short fiction (2022) – Published in the May 16, 2022 edition of Fiction on the Web as a “Pick of the Month”
“Michelle, Ma Belle”: A New York Public Library employee wages two chess matches. A literal one against a fierce opponent and a figurative one with the girl of his dreams. Published in the April 10, 2022 edition of The Literary Yard
“Dowa Yalanne“: On an enchanted mesa, a young couple determine their destiny. Published in the May 9, 2022 edition of ZiN Daily
“Sister Zsuzsa“: In a Budapest hospital during the height of WWII, a lonely, frightened Jewish prisoner of the Hungarian labor camp system finds help from three angels on earth – Published in the April 2022 edition of the Jewish Literary Journal
“High Rise”: Two young women leave their small Pennsylvania town to live together in an urban high rise condo. Challenges immediately emerge, complicated by demons from the past – Published in the 2002 Arzono Annual Anthology
“Silver Lake”: A youngster comes to terms with the drowning of his close friend – Published in the May 2, 2022 edition of The Whiskey Blot
“A Pandemic Conversation”: A man struggles to comfort his mother, who’s living in an assisted living facility, at the start of the pandemic.
Published in the Fiction section of The Globe Review in July 2023
“23 and Dee”: After a DNA test, a woman’s life is disrupted by the discovery that she has a half-sister.
“Map of the World”: A father and son bond over a map.
Published in the January 3, 2024 edition of Flash Fiction Magazine
“Walking With My Baby”: A young father, on a walk with his baby daughter, has various surprising and engaging encounters.
Published in the December 2023 edition of the New English Review
“The Quiz”: A young, non-Jewish man prepares for and attends his first Seder.
“Mantle”: Two men encounter their childhood hero at his Manhattan restaurant. Published in the Fall 2024 edition of Spitball Magazine.
“Third Grade”: A nine-year-old boy experiences various tumultuous events during the 1963-64 school season.
Published in the March 2024 edition of The Argyle Literary Magazine
“Shomrat”: Teenagers meet and explore their relationship during a long day on a kibbutz in 1970.
“Winners”: Six lifelong friends since their high school baseball days play an intense game of Midnight Baseball poker, during which age-old animosities reveal themselves.
“The Bank Examiner”: A rookie bank examiner returns to his hometown to investigate suspected money laundering, only to uncover corruption, buried secrets, and dangerous ties between the bank and organized crime.
“Picnic in Buda”: During the Holocaust, a young Jewish forced laborer and the woman he loves steal one perfect day together in the Buda hills, uncertain whether war will ever allow them to meet again. Published in The MacGuffin (Vol. 41, No. 2, 2026).
“Sentencing”: As a judge prepares to sentence a convicted armed robber, a shocking courtroom revelation forces everyone to question whether justice has truly been served. Published in the August 2026 edition of After Dinner Conversation Magazine.
“Golden Light”: A stressed, angry husband reluctantly attends a meditation class, where an unexpected moment of inner peace begins to heal his fractured family and himself. Published in Café Lit Magazine (January 20, 2026).
“One Small Step”: As the world celebrates the Apollo 11 moon landing, a shy fifteen-year-old boy experiences a giant leap of his own when he falls in love for the first time. Published in The Saturday Evening Post (March 27, 2026).
“Never Can Say Goodbye”: A teenager’s choice between two very different records becomes a poignant lesson about peer pressure, authenticity, and the music that stays with us for a lifetime. Published in the May 2026 edition of Five on the Fifth.
“Four Hands”: A friendly Sunday bridge game turns into a searching debate over Winston Churchill’s legacy, forcing four wartime friends to confront the uncomfortable truth that history’s greatest heroes are rarely heroes to everyone.
“A Theory of Us:” At a Manhattan dinner party, an offhand remark from her husband leads a woman to quietly reexamine fourteen years of marriage, and to recognize the distance that’s been growing between them all along.
“Pig”: After a lonely widower responds to a seemingly innocent wrong-number text, three lives—a retired businessman, his worried daughter, and a young man trapped in a Southeast Asian scam compound—become entwined in a devastating tale of trust, loneliness, and deception.