Sometimes catching up on a neglected task can be difficult. That’s where I found myself over the last week. For the past year, I have been concentrating on a variety of new short stories, in particular, the short story “Angels” as well as querying my first novel, “The Forest Hill Crow Society”.
“Angels” is a magic realism fiction short story that takes place on a spring morning when a neighborhood wakes up to the unusual gift of a series of intricately drawn “Angels” that now decorate their street and sidewalks. The graffiti is complex and baffling for having appeared overnight. Crafted in chalk, the detailed images appear to reflect family and friends of those gathered, reviving memories and completing their stories. For some the “Angels” are a chance to share and reconnect, for others the opportunity to unburden themselves from their past.
“The Forest Hill Crow Society” is a contemporary fiction novel. It’s the fiftieth anniversary of a spring morning when the door to the vault of the First National Bank was found wide open. The Forest Hill Crow Society, formed by young Connie Magruder, Diane Stevens, and Missy Kornfeld, is on the case. Spurred on by their quest to prove the innocence of Diane’s father, the bank’s vice president, the “Crow Girls” begin to unravel tales of missing persons, femme fatales, infidelity, and criminal misdirection, that lead to murder. When asked by a national magazine how they managed to collect key evidence, Missy replies, “No one ever notices us, we’re kids.”
Things have changed in fifty years. Neighborhoods, street names, people, hairstyles, music, cars, and memories. As the once famous Forest Hill Crow Society meets again, they may need to rethink what they once saw, felt, believed happened that May, and where it should take them.
Both “Angels” and “The Forest Hill Crow Society” are out looking for a home. Fingers crossed as they say.
I am proud to announce that my short story “Yard Sale” was published in the Freshwater Literary Journal on May 1. Reflecting on the personal history connected to a set of old coffee mugs becomes the focal point of a man’s reminiscences of his former life as he endures the never-ending tedium of a “Yard Sale”.
You can read Yard Sale online here (p40).
As is typical, a website is a work in progress and to that end, I have added pages for previously published stories.
Enjoy.
Note on the cover photo: “Good Morning” was captured on a recent trip to Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, San Juan County, UT and Navajo County, AZ, USA (2024)
Duane M. Engelhardt 