“The mind’s flirtation with the real” – Robert Hogg
Red bird nestled on a radio. Chair with broken black backs’ plastic leather cracking. Birthday cards. One from a dog named Beckham.
Telephone sleeping, dreaming of beaches, waits for a call from Puerto Vallarta. A table with notebooks. Bookcases full. Stereo off. Television off.
A road atlas of Iberia. A Canadian’s backpack stride on hot dusty paths. Port Bou, Dalí’s Cadaques, Margarita’s Costa Brava villa, The House of the Americans in Vulpellach. Ana Cris’ piso in the barrio of Gracia, Barcelona.
A slow boat’s tour of the coast. Valencia, Alicante. Lemon trees and orange trees. Malaga. Just east of Gibraltar, east of Cadiz, warmest waters ever.
West some. Slip north paralleling Portugal’s back yard. Bow to the universal memory of bombed Guernica.
Crossing the Pyrenees to France in an open-air railway carriage. Scenic. Cool at altitude. Perpignan and a print shop run by Spanish Anarchists.
Back into Spain by bus smuggling anti-Franco, anti-fascist pamphlets with intrepid Miriam, 1976. Barely breathing at passport control. They search backpacks but not bodies. The dangerous words an inner layer of clothing.
A maroon taper lit once the evening he heard Miriam died. That was years ago. Standing guard against forgetfulness it tells him of a cello silenced, brilliance snuffed out…
Introducing "Sunday Morning in the Beltline" by Wade Bell
We are thrilled to share an excerpt from a new short story, "Sunday Morning in the Beltline," by Wade Bell. The piece captures the essence of a quiet Sunday morning, evoking nostalgia and contemplation in equal measure.
Through Bell's poetic language, we are transported to a scene filled with eclectic objects and memories. A red bird perched on a radio, a chair with cracked plastic leather, birthday cards, and a phone waiting for a call from Puerto Vallarta. The story takes us deeper into the author's personal experiences, as we follow him on a bus smuggling anti-Franco, anti-fascist pamphlets and feel the tension of passing through passport control. "Sunday Morning in the Beltline" weaves together memories, travel, and emotion in a way that lingers long after reading.
If you're a fan of poetry and literature, we highly recommend checking out Wade Bell's "Sunday Morning in the Beltline." You can read the full story and more of Bell's work on The Typescript, where he regularly contributes pieces on arts and literature.