My short story, Barista, is published here first for your pleasure. I plan to publish original content weekly. It may be a poem, flash, or a longer short. Stay in touch and let me hear what you think. Chris

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His eyebrow rose. “Forty-three?” The assistant manager shakes his head at The Expresso Computer’s newest hire. “Tisha, I wouldn’t have pegged you over thirty.”

Latisha Williams frowns and points her long brown finger at the tip jar. “I’m not tipping you Brian.”

“Too bad.” He flips a can of whipped cream into the air, catching it behind his back. With a flourish of prestidigitation he squirts a dollop on a hot Grande Supreme. “Your soy, mocha, latte with three shots.” He hands the steaming java to an enamored teen.

“Impressive.” Tisha nods her Afro and glances over the room. It’s 4:30. The tables are full with one computer station unoccupied. The afterschool rush is over. It’s her fourth day, and she knows the routine—now the after work crowd. Squeezing out a soapy sponge in the sink, she wipes down the counter. “This place moves. How long have you been working here?”Continue Reading

As the leaves fell in September, I remember my despair. My mind ached with the coming gray and bare, the monochrome of winter in South Louisiana. There’s no promise of snow here, that fresh fall of magic, waking in the morning to white silence; the reverent beauty that washes the soul. I remember January in Michigan. Shovel in hand, the romance fades; snow turns to gray and fluff to mush.Continue Reading