These three short essays are based on real events from my life. I discovered it is not easy (for me, anyway) to write in the first person. After this, I think I will stick to writing fiction.

I wanted to write an interior story. So, most of this story takes place inside the head of the protagonist. Also, except for the mention of a deceased actress, only the non-human characters have names.

“Potted” is a short story I wrote one afternoon when I was visiting New York City.

One day when I was grocery shopping, I overheard two stock clerks in the produce section talking about their mothers. I heard one of them say, “I call my mom Betty, ‘cuz that’s her name.” And thus this short story was born.   

I gave myself the challenge of writing a one-sentence short story.  Here is what I came up with.

I originally wrote this short story to submit to a fiction contest.
Although my story was not chosen as a finalist, writing it was a fun and challenging exercise.