Monthly Archives: May 2022

The prosecution spent hours building its case based on the information their one and only eyewitness had provided. She had been there since the scam’s inception, watching as her employer and his associates concocted a system designed to bilk billions … Continue reading →

If I am a parent who sent his son to live with a grandparent because I couldn’t control him, am I a witness or an accomplice? If I am a grandparent who failed to monitor online texting and gaming and … Continue reading →

When are we aiding and abetting in a crime? Could it include when it is in our power and fail to act? Is this also misfeasance or malfeasance? Legal experts may indicate that failure to act is not a crime. … Continue reading →

It is with great pleasure that I am announcing the creation of a new online periodical- The Banana. Yes, you probably think that this is a weak attempt to emulate another satirical periodical named after a certain vegetable. I assure … Continue reading →

Jane sat near me this year in our 7th grade class. She just turned 13 and since the summer her appearance changed dramatically. We first met last year at a neighbors pool party. Her family moved into our area in … Continue reading →

Jennifer’s world was getting too hard to live in. Day after day, the state of life’s problems were too much burden to bear. Lying awake every night staring at the ceiling, her mind raced. When she came to work one … Continue reading →

Somewhere on Generals Highway, above the breath-defying switchbacks that rise more than 2,000 feet into Sequoia National Park from Hospital Rock, and beyond the intersection of Big Trees Trail and Little Deer Creek, I was overwhelmed by the massive dignity … Continue reading →

Orson worked as a contract coder for multiple medical software companies. Freelancing let him make his own hours, live where he wanted, and be his own boss. He avoided petty office politics and usually made more than the 9-5ers. The … Continue reading →

The tree I am searching for has passed away. It was cut down for progress but I wonder if there may have been another motive. I know it thrived along Main Street in the sprawling new city in Southwest Florida … Continue reading →

Very recently, I came upon some pictures of the neighbourhood where my parents purchased the last home they would ever own—a home where I spent the final ten years of my boyhood.  The pictures, old black-and-whites, had been taken around … Continue reading →

I love to travel to Key West. It’s an eclectic place that fosters the last bastion of true bohemianism. It’s weird, wild and wonderful. Every bar looks as though either Jimmy Buffet or a pirate are the proprietors. Dogs sit … Continue reading →

Key West Revisited     by Diane Hanley 5/18/2022 Key West, originally home to Calusa Indians — long gone, was discovered by Ponce de Leon in 1513.  He named it Cayo Hueso (Island of Bones) as scattered on its white … Continue reading →

With her husband out of town, one of my neighbors organized a kaffeeklatsch for the ladies. Coffee and gossip. After all, that’s what klatsch means, and what goes better with coffee? Okay, maybe strudel. But idle chitchat is what differentiates … Continue reading →

Have you ever reached a point in your life when all you want to do is get away? It doesn’t have to be a drastic change, just a fun weekend get-a-way where the only decision you’ll need to make is … Continue reading →

Every family has some hidden skills lurking in the gene pool. Our family tree is blessed with individuals with an uncanny ability to turn a phrase. My great, great aunt Matilda was the earliest on record for demonstrating this gift. … Continue reading →

There is a house in old Key West, called the Silver Woman’s Place.  It’s been the ruin of many a young man who dared look into her face. I was not one of those poor unfortunates, fortunately.  But I did … Continue reading →

Since I can remember, books were my life. I read at night, I read after school. I always felt completely engrossed in the story. And now I am. When I was about 10, I took my first journey into the … Continue reading →

The citadel lights grow dim The crowd cascade a perverse cold damp an answer awakened by a churchly hymn and the screed of the neon lamp The ramparts are manned If only a casual relief from the wolfish The creature … Continue reading →

Although the weather forecast called for a 50-percent chance of rain, I bet on the sunny side and met my friend Andie after work to walk the trendy neighborhoods along the Metro stops on the Virginia side of Washington, D.C. … Continue reading →

(This is a story I plan on entering in a contest. The genre is Fantasy and every entry has to start with the sentence: There weren’t always dragons in the valley. If you would give me some constructive feedback I … Continue reading →

The Hippy Chicks & the Alien  by Diane Hanley 5/10/2022 It was Senior Day at Hippy Chicks Unique Boutique and Thrift Store on Main St in downtown Roswell, NM.  Everything (except the the best of the upscale brands like Chico’s … Continue reading →

I had no idea of the meaning of sci fi, the weekly prompt from my Florida writers’ group, so I asked a few of my learned friends. “I’m not surprised you don’t know,” my doctor friend sniffed with a whiff … Continue reading →