Gasping for Life
“I last talked at God on the beach at Los Palmas. It was nine years ago. Randy was drowning in front of me.”
Playa Los Palmas, Mexico | Spring of 1998 | CINDY FEY
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Redemption“He was headed straight for the back, where the outcast sat alone in the very last pew. And he gave me communion.” What is Spoken Without WordsAll these fears were dispelled when the stranger approached with an enthusiastic smile. He said, “Hashish.” Chandler contrived a look of apologetic disappointment. Grinding imaginary grains between thumb and forefinger, he shrugged and replied, “Tobacco. No hashish.” A Gift in HaitiDoctors are scarce in Haiti. Good doctors are even harder to find. That was why we had treated so many people in a week’s time. This young woman had walked two days to seek medical care. “There’s nothing I can do for this baby,” Nellie pronounced finally, and sighed. The Punishment Suits the CaseDeep in his snooze, thousands of feet in the air, he felt a sharp nudge. Soon the pilot was on the PA. The message, though garbled, was stark. Something had gone wrong with the windshield – did he say a crack? – necessitating an emergency landing in Frankfurt. My Second GenuflectionAs he walked through the parking lot, he was ill at ease. Probably just the usual jitters, he told myself. He’d been coming to the masjid for almost two months now, and even with the rainbow triangle in his car’s back window these visits were without incident. The Echo of AhmadinejadLife looks monotonous, and sadness seems to dominate it in many appearances. Even the landscape, which is mostly a stone desert with dry plants, does not promise much. The air is polluted; you get used to breathing a hot air smelling of petrol. Well water tastes oily. God’s AcreIt’s the sort of thing that happens in the quick conversations of small towns: The unexplained is explained by stories passed on through the generations. And so everyone believed it was the first grave dug in town — that the church and graveyard grew up around it. Cinder BoxShe pulls at the box and then begins to gag. It’s a case of chocolate Betty Crocker frosting. She reaches for her Bible. “God give me the strength, the faith. Jesus, I beg you to guide me to your truth. Save me. Spare this baby. Do not punish this child for my sins.” SuperfaithRodeos are part sporting event, part vaudeville show. Between the many beautiful and harrowing rides, it takes a while to set up, so they fill the time with rodeo clowns or trick riders or patriotic zeal. And along the way somebody came up with Cowboy Poker.  |
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