This is Butte. You Have Ten Minutes.

One of the things I’ve wanted to do for a while and haven’t, for whatever reason, is adapt one of my stories for the stage. (If this smacks of “I’ve always wanted to direct,” my apologies.) I have such a vibrant love of live theater, and such a profound respect for those who perform it, that I’ve long wanted to get involved somehow. Whether because of the demands of the next manuscript or a clinging relationship to my comfort zone, I haven’t done much to push this aspiration forward.

That’s why I’m so thankful for Patrick Wilson. Patrick, a theater veteran who founded Sacrifice Cliff Theater Company here in Billings, Montana, approached me recently and asked if I had anything in the archives that could be adapted for the theater’s New Works Festival.

As a matter of fact …

The story I chose—called This is Butte. You Have Ten Minutes.—was included in my 2011 short-story collection, Quantum Physics and the Art of Departure. It’s a deeply personal story for me, one inspired by my own late-night bus ride from Billings to Missoula while my then-wife was using my car to move her belongings out of the house we shared. All of the stories, in some way, tie into the notions of separation and yearning, but this is the one that sprang to mind when I considered dramatic possibilities. With Patrick’s help, I’ll get to see it come to fruition.

So, to mark this coming occasion, I’ve decided to offer up the short story to readers of this site.

You can download the PDF here.

For more information about Quantum Physics and the Art of Departure, go here.

Thanks for reading.