Within Arm's Reach

by Ann Napolitano

sat on the couch and on the floor where Willie had told them to Keep Quiet and Pray.

It proves that even when the worst thing imaginable happens, the individuals involved still survive.

“Catharine, your mother simply brings more life to the room. She is not crazy. She’s Irish in a way you and I are not. You must treat her with respect.”

“Public schools are fascist—doesn’t Meggy know that? Stalin went to a public school. They have rules there that squelch a child’s spirit.

I’ve been thinking about a story my mother used to tell about a neighbor in Ireland who she called an Irish dreamer. And when I say a dreamer, I mean a real dreamer, not a drunk.

the usual identity crisis—the question of who am I this year with these people compared to who I was last year and how much do I have in common with these men and women who share my blood—even