Saturday, December 15, 1973. “I can’t find them, Ann, I can’t find them!” “They have to be where you last left them last,” Ann called out. “Did you check your dresser drawers?” “No, they’re not there,” replied Gordon, frantically searching throughout the bedroom. “I can’t find them. This is terrible, and I need to get…
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A revision of my original 1985 college senior thesis; a fantasy novel about a 1970’s low-minor-league baseball team and the discovery that one of its members may have come from another time.
Christmas in Iverhill: Sleeping with Gretchen Peters
Thursday, December 20th, 1973. If Frank Osterman hadn’t arrived at Iverhill’s only late-night tavern, the 9N Bar and Grille, he might not have even volunteered for this delivery. Or was conscripted for the delivery. He wasn’t sure if there was a true delineation. “You gotta do me a favor,” the bartender said as Frank approached…
Read MoreChristmas in Iverhill: The Picture and the Wallet
Monday, December 24, 1973. “Mom, you have to trust me. This is so easy.” “But I don’t understand what you’re doing,” Louise Martin complained, as she watched her son Lloyd hook up the coaxial cable to the television. “Why can’t I just use the rabbit ears?” “Because mom, this will allow you to watch more…
Read MoreChristmas in Iverhill: The Black Oak Elementary School Sledding Championship
Wednesday, December 19, 1973. Iverhill’s public schools seldom, if ever, closed for a snowstorm. If heavy snow was scheduled to arrive, so then were the snowplows and the salt trucks – all the way through Iverhill and into the Otswego Valley. There were too many people in town who needed to get to work, and…
Read MoreChristmas in Iverhill: The Night it Rained in December
Sunday, December 23, 1973. The decorations covered every storefront along North Main Avenue, each bauble and bangle covered with a thin film of grimy glaze. The ornaments hanging from the tree in the center of Wilson Park flickered as a million raindrops chilled each branch and ball. Willie hiked his coat up around his neck,…
Read MoreChristmas in Iverhill: The Snow Fort of St. Timothy
NOTE: To read Chuck Miller’s book “The Robins of Iverhill: A Minor League Fairy Tale,” as well as the short stories in the “Christmas in Iverhill” series, visit this link. Monday, December 24th, 1973. Port’s alarm clock rang at 8:00 a.m., with that same bang-bang-bang bell-ringing that married 8:00 a.m. to the end of sleep. …
Read MoreChristmas in Iverhill: Mackie and Charm’s First Date
Mackie checked his watch. Three minutes to 7:00 p.m. He hoped she would arrive soon. Mackie was a punctual person, and he appreciated that trait in others. Sipping a chilly amber beverage from his glass, Mackie glanced up at the wall-mounted bar clock. 6:57 p.m. at the 9N Bar and Grille in Iverhill. Another sip.…
Read MoreChristmas in Iverhill: Left Behind on the Ark
Sunday, December 16, 1973. Miss Smetana dipped the blackboard eraser in water, then wiped down the blackboard. Streaks of drying shale replaced her chalk-outlined notes of scripture and verse. She had to do this after every Sunday class. The religion classes at the parochial school adjoining the Church of Most Pleasant Blood were shared with…
Read MoreChristmas in Iverhill: A Broadcast for Shauna Moire
December 17, 1973. To listeners, Shauna Moire started her radio show at 9:00 p.m. “Shauna Moire.” Even the name itself wasn’t all true. She signed her paychecks as “Sandra Moyer,” answered to her mother and father with that same name. But on the air, she was “Shauna,” a name evoking sunshine and sandy beaches and…
Read MoreChristmas in Iverhill: Three Bird Houses
Saturday, December 22, 1973. “Why are you wasting your time?” “I’m not wasting my time,” Benny said. “Nobody’s going to want them,” his older brother Sammy chided. “They look old and ratty.” “I don’t care,” the ten-year-old boy sparked back. And with that, he walked out of the house, and placed the last wooden birdhouse…
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Chuck The Writer 
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