Blog

  • Short Story Review: “Door in the Woods” by Chris Scott

    (The flash fiction story “Door in the Woods” by Chris Scott was presented at Okay Donkey on October 3rd, 2025.)

    The “Door in the Woods” by Chris Scott pulls off my favorite story telling trick; It leaves me with more questions than answers, but not in the frustrating “jerk you around” kind’a way. This is a work that straddles realism and surrealism. It is relatable, authentic, but also funny and absurd. In little over 1,100 words, it is a very specific story addressing a rather universal experience most encounter in their relationships.

    The story starts off with a bit of mystery and tension. It isn’t until the third sentence wherein the door is identified. Even in the second paragraph, when more of a description of the door is given, there hangs in the air a feeling that the door is unnatural in origin. Then to add to the tension, it is shared that this couple has been in therapy in an attempt to save their marriage. Once they decide how to pass by/through the door, and do so, the uneasiness of the situation fades, and seems to be setting up a metaphor for the couples’ relationship. But there’s a complications; each person remembers the encounter with the door differently.

    Was this a supernatural encounter? Is this couple like every couple, and having a moment where they remember things differently? Is the door affecting their ability to remember? Or is this misremembering an act of sabotage by one of the partners? These questions hang, and motivate the narrator, who is the husband in the couple. Truth isn’t the goal, when an answer, a conclusion, or closure is what’s needed.

    Scott does an excellent job creating tension, unease, and relatability in this work. The husband’s need and search for an answer from this unusual event underscores his desire to create stability and peace in this rocky marriage. I don’t know a single person who hasn’t agreed to a lie to keep a fight from bubbling up in their relationship. In this story, you can feel the eggshells the husband stands on, and the fear that this could be the event to push this marriage over the edge.

  • Earworm Wednesday: That other 90’s Sound

    It’s the “baggy jeans and long blond hair” line that has lived rent free in my head since 8th Grade.

    I can’t really tell you anything else about The Farm other than this is one of their songs, and the band is from Liverpool.

    What I do remember about this song is being in my room, doing homework, and listening to 94.5 The Edge which was the local DFW alt music radio station. Not that I want to go back to being fourteen, but I do kind’a miss that feeling when the radio finally plays that song you have been waiting all day to hear. That rush of excitement and validation when the song was playing, and trying to savor every second that it was on. Bonus points if you had a blank tape ready to go to record the song off the radio – making one rough around the edges mix tape.

  • Did You Know…

    I know how to get most stains out of clothes.

    I made this really great Japanese soup for lunch today.

    That Document is my second favorite R.E.M. album.

    That years of doing theatre and puppeteering has messed up both my knees to the point that arthritis is setting in.

    That most of the hair on my head is gray now.

    That I am a cat person, though I do love my dog.

    I have a weakness for chocolate.

    That I left the ice cream on the counter last night, fell asleep on the couch, and it all melted.

    I drink two cups of coffee a day, and sometimes three if I’m working on a project.

    I have no memories of the town I was born in.

    I find long, think ear hair really, really gross.

    That I think the word “grody” should be used more often.

    I no longer think the band 311 sucks.

    I was in a movie, it was terrible, and I will not tell you the title.

    When I was in college, I changed my major seven times.

    If I focus hard, and I can still smell the perfume my first girlfriend used to wear.

    I watched one episode of “Cop Rock” when it was originally on tv.

    The only bones I have broken are my right pinky toe and finger.

    I like riding on the Long Island Rail Road.

  • A Wave of Overwhelmed (Unedited)

    I need to learn this and stop being surprised when it happens…

    The kid got sick over the weekend, and it through everything off.

    We aren’t mad at the kid for getting sick, because getting is sick is what kids do about half of the time. No, we were both amazed and taken aback by how much the kid’s illness destroyed out mental wellbeing.

    Let me explain…

    We had a fun, but busy weekend planned. We were going to get our Halloween pumpkin, and complete other Fall errands. The kid was going on a sleepover with a friend, and there was her soccer match on Sunday. Then we had shoe shopping planned, well you get the idea… Lots of stuff.

    But for the past few days, the kid had been saying that she wasn’t feeling right, and she did have a stuffy nose. Anyway, since she was going to a sleepover, and being around a bunch of kid for soccer, I thought, just to eliminate any questions, that we’d pop in to the local minor emergency clinic to check her out. And that’s when we found out that she was actually, really sick, and contagious for the next 24 hour before the antibiotics kicked in.

    In one sense, I felt a little good that I was a responsible parent and took my kid in, and got her the care that she needed.

    But what me and the wife also felt was that our entire weekend, if not life, had just spun outta control, and NOW we were over whelmed with everything that we had to take care of. We even felt a little paralyzed, unable to get up off the couch to take care of anything other than our kid. We were both surprised at how fast this feeling of helplessness came over us. In all honesty, we have dealt with much much worse things and situations, and handled it with a smile and a good sense of humor. This was a pretty minor issue… but our reaction was completely deflated and defeated.

    By Sunday, we had snapped out of it and righted the ship. Things are all better, but we’re back on track. Yet, even this morning, we were still bewildered by our reaction from Saturday.

    Just… surprising.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Cubs, Coats, and Coffee

    (I’m on time homie that’s how it goes…)

    The Cubs lost and I didn’t watch the game. IN a sense, that does make me feel like I didn’t have some sort of supernatural pull on the team. Actually, the real reason I didn’t watch them was I had plans with my kid. BUT… I do know what this feels like; to have to say “we’ll get ’em next year.” and how “next year” will be a rebuilding year – again.

    Sweater weather? Oh, I do love my sweaters and sweatshirts. In fact, I think it might be time to refresh some of my sweaters. But for me, this is coat season. Or maybe jacket weather? Either way, having a nice coat for this chilly time of year does give me a deep satisfying feeling. I got my army coat, and workman’s coat. There is my thin puffer, and there are the blazers that I have as well. You know, a good coat completes an outfit.

    I have a love and happiness relationship with coffee. That’s all. I just really love coffee. The smell of it, and brewing it, and the first cup of the day, and a late afternoon sip.