David

Thad couldn't even work up the enthusiasm. The day after the meeting, I approached him in the lunchroom where he sat at his regular table, surrounded by his regular friends. Listen, I said, I am really sorry about that stuff with my dad. I'd worked up a whole long speech, complete with imitations, but by the time I hit my second sentence, he'd turned to resume his conversation with Doug Middleton.

Thad couldn't even work up the enthusiasm. The day after the meeting, I approached him in the lunchroom where he sat at his regular table, surrounded by his regular friends. Listen, I said, I am really sorry about that stuff with my dad. I'd worked up a whole long speech, complete with imitations, but by the time I hit my second sentence, he'd turned to resume his conversation with Doug Middleton.

Our perjured testimony, my father's behavior, even the rock throwing. I was so far beneath him that it hadn't even registered. Poof. The socialites of E.C. Brooks shone even brighter in junior high, but come 10th grade, things began to change.

Our perjured testimony, my father's behavior, even the rock throwing. I was so far beneath him that it hadn't even registered. Poof. The socialites of E.C. Brooks shone even brighter in junior high, but come 10th grade, things began to change.

Desegregation drove a lot of the popular people into private schools, and those who remained seemed silly and archaic, deposed royalty from a country the average citizen had ceased to care about. Early in our junior year, Thad was jumped by a group of the new black kids who yanked off his shoes and threw them in the toilet.

Desegregation drove a lot of the popular people into private schools, and those who remained seemed silly and archaic, deposed royalty from a country the average citizen had ceased to care about. Early in our junior year, Thad was jumped by a group of the new black kids who yanked off his shoes and threw them in the toilet.

I knew I was supposed to be happy, but part of me felt personally assaulted. Yes, he'd been a negligent prince, yet I still believed in the monarchy. When his name was called at graduation, it was me who clapped the longest, outlasting even his parents, who politely stopped once he'd left the stage. I thought about that a lot over the coming years.

I knew I was supposed to be happy, but part of me felt personally assaulted. Yes, he'd been a negligent prince, yet I still believed in the monarchy. When his name was called at graduation, it was me who clapped the longest, outlasting even his parents, who politely stopped once he'd left the stage. I thought about that a lot over the coming years.

He's the poet laureate of Lichtenstein, the surgeon who cures cancer with love, the ninth grade teacher who insists that the world is big enough for everyone. When moving to another city, I'm always hoping to find him living in the apartment next door, We'll meet in the hallway and he'll stick out his hand saying, excuse me, but don't I, shouldn't I know you?

He's the poet laureate of Lichtenstein, the surgeon who cures cancer with love, the ninth grade teacher who insists that the world is big enough for everyone. When moving to another city, I'm always hoping to find him living in the apartment next door, We'll meet in the hallway and he'll stick out his hand saying, excuse me, but don't I, shouldn't I know you?

It doesn't have to happen today, but it does have to happen. I've kept a space waiting for him. And if he doesn't show up, I'll have to forgive my father.

It doesn't have to happen today, but it does have to happen. I've kept a space waiting for him. And if he doesn't show up, I'll have to forgive my father.

There's a stillness to the Idaho wilderness that feels like stepping into another world. No cars, no chatter, no deadlines, just trees, stretching endlessly in every direction, their towering forms bending slightly under the breeze. This is what I needed. An escape, a reset. I parked my car at the trailhead, threw on my pack, and tightened my boots.

There's a stillness to the Idaho wilderness that feels like stepping into another world. No cars, no chatter, no deadlines, just trees, stretching endlessly in every direction, their towering forms bending slightly under the breeze. This is what I needed. An escape, a reset. I parked my car at the trailhead, threw on my pack, and tightened my boots.

The air was crisp, biting at my cheeks in a way that made me feel alive. I checked my map, folded it back into my pocket, and started down the trail. The crunch of my boots against the dirt echoed faintly through the trees, a comforting sound against the overwhelming quiet. The forest was different out here.

The air was crisp, biting at my cheeks in a way that made me feel alive. I checked my map, folded it back into my pocket, and started down the trail. The crunch of my boots against the dirt echoed faintly through the trees, a comforting sound against the overwhelming quiet. The forest was different out here.

no sounds of distant hikers or dogs barking no signs marking every fork in the trail just raw untouched wilderness i reveled in the isolation feeling that rare freedom city life can never provide the first couple of miles were uneventful A squirrel darted across the trail, a hawk circled lazily above.

no sounds of distant hikers or dogs barking no signs marking every fork in the trail just raw untouched wilderness i reveled in the isolation feeling that rare freedom city life can never provide the first couple of miles were uneventful A squirrel darted across the trail, a hawk circled lazily above.

I stopped once to adjust my pack and sip some water, letting the sheer quiet of the forest seep into my bones. That's when I noticed something, off to my right, just beyond the tree line.

I stopped once to adjust my pack and sip some water, letting the sheer quiet of the forest seep into my bones. That's when I noticed something, off to my right, just beyond the tree line.