Gather

by Kenneth M. Cadow

I am a professional at watching the sunset in the eastern sky

I’m all cheery and shit, saying, “I have pockets.” But he reached into his glove compartment and pulled out a serious pair of ski gloves. Patagonia. “Merry Christmas,” he says. “Keep these. Happy New Year.” There are all kinds of reasons I can’t believe this. Who in the world is actually this nice? He’s giving me gloves and he doesn’t have a job. And who actually keeps gloves in their glove compartment?

She’s like, “Please search for all the who words in your story, see where you think you need to add an m.” I’m like, “That’s nowhere. Nobody worth my listening to says whom, ever. I’m not putting a goddam m in there. Jesus.”

Kid falls off his trike, you come and get him, even if it’s raining.

This is all of it.

Gathering doesn’t help if you don’t feel like you belong.”