Stories

My First Palace
(Isele Magazine. April 30, 2023)

Fred Littleton, a young attorney in San Francisco, seeks to move beyond living arrangements that involve roommates or apartment rentals. He’s always dreamed of living in his own palace, in an abode that expresses his style and status. After becoming both a partner at the law firm of Norris and Gellman, and a newly married man, he begins to actively pursue his vision of being a nobleman in his own elegant palace.

The Oracles On Grand
(Half Hour To Kill. February 21, 2023)

Isaac Stein, a middle-aged rabbi with a dwindling congregation, walks past the decaying Oracle Movie Theater on Grand Avenue on the way to his synagogue. One day, on his walk home, he is surprised to see three posters pasted to each side of the theater’s main entrance. Each poster displays an image of five women dressed in flowing white dresses. These are the oracles of ancient Greece come back to life and they will answer your most compelling questions. Rabbi Stein observes the miraculous renewal of the theater on his daily walks. He decides to seek out the guidance of the oracles on the opening night performance at the New Oracle Theater.

A Subterranean Purgatory
(Adelaide Literary Magazine. March 15, 2021)

Jeremy, a middle-aged investment banker, has never taken the subway to work, despite living a ten-minute walk from his neighborhood station in San Francisco. As a matter of fact, he’s never been on the subway at all. He prefers to drive his Porsche Boxster. But now, for the first time in his life, he’s compelled to ride the subway to work. His encounters along the way enrich his life.

The Phoenix Arising
(Fiction on the Web. September 13, 2021)

David, a young structural engineer, moves to San Francisco in 1988 to start working at a prominent engineering firm. He discovers the city as he walks its hills, and he falls in love with a young woman, Sophie, who lives and works in the Marina District. Then, he encounters the power and disruption of a major earthquake that threatens to destroy the life he has built.

The Falcon and The Fox
(Idle Ink. May 1, 2021)

Bernard Fox, a mature architect nearing his 60th birthday, considers his options for the future. Should he continue his journey through life? Could he, perhaps, regain his ideals after working so long in the service of the corporate world?

Annika’s Dream
(Bewildering Stories. July 26, 2021)

FINALIST in the SHORT STORY category of the 6th Annual Adelaide Literary Magazine Award Contest 2024 Purchase 2024 Short Stories Award Anthology

Annika, a young Russian-American woman, confronts the assaults of the automobile in contemporary San Francisco. She travels through time and beyond time itself in a journey to become part of a future family in a transformed version of San Francisco.