Jeff Harrison is a writer, editor, and high school English teacher living with his wonderful and supportive wife, children, and grandchildren in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, though he still thinks of himself as a Miami kid. In addition to writing and publishing his own stories, he offers editing services to authors on their way to achieving their own publishing goals.
Dane Schottmer remembers his father, Branson, as hard, mean, and distant. He promised himself and his wife that he would never turn out like his old man. Still, for years, he held on to the hope for reconciliation, or at least an apology for all the abuse he suffered as a child. Those hopes are ruined when Alzheimer’s disease ravages his father’s memory and robs him of his personality, rapidly closing the window of opportunity for the two men to make peace.
Even worse, when Dane’s beloved mother dies, Dane is forced to move into his childhood home and care for the father who never cared for him. As grief and stress consume Dane, his mental health and his marriage suffer—until the home his family has occupied for generations intervenes in a supernatural way. Persistently and provocatively, it invites Dane to see his father for who he really is and to show Dane that he’s more like the old man than he wants to admit.
"Baby Steps" is a short story about a man coping with the specter of a baby that follows him everywhere he goes.
"Brush Strokes" is a flash fiction story about a father trying (and mostly failing) to guide his daughter through teen motherhood.
Photo by Freysteinn G. Jonsson on Unsplash
"Unhatched" is a short story about coping with loss and finding guidance through the process from the strangest places.
Photo by Elti Meshau on Unsplash
"None So Blind" is a flash fiction story about a blind teenager living with her father, who might not be entirely human anymore.