JT EVERGREEN SHORT STORIES

by J.T. Evergreen It was one of those rainy afternoons when I stepped away from my typewriter and settled into the window seat in my studio. I plumped the big cushy pillows, placed my cup of tea on the window sill and leaned back with a sigh. A beautiful thunderstorm was making its way across the horizon; black roiling clouds with flashes of lightning and cracks of distant thunder completed this perfect scene. As a child, I had learned to count the seconds after each flash of lightning to determine how far away the storm was. One-Mississippi equaled one mile. I also used that measure after I’d sass my mother – gaging when her reaction would descend upon me.  I don’t believe I ever got beyond three-Mississippi. If you happen to be a comedian, counting that way provides an accurate measure of how funny you are or are not. The trailing edge of the storm brought gentle showers to the garden below my window, freeing me of the task I enjoyed but was happy to release to th...

I’m on the verge of my thirtieth birthday and still haven’t found the love of my life, my soul mate, my squeeze if you will. I’m reasonably good looking, well educated, well read, even-tempered, can converse intelligently on almost any subject, and I’m just a nice guy to be around. In spite of all that, not to mention the extraordinary efforts my mother has put into ‘the project’ as she calls it, I’m still alone and not liking it. Singles bars, online dating, and church socials – nothing seems to be working. I’ve met a number of beautiful and very charming women and also a few who were not so charming, but none of them clicked. Mom threatened to engage the help of a matchmaker … even though we aren’t Jewish. I put my foot down on that one. I was waiting for her to ask me to make a donation to the local sperm bank which would have brought about a conversation she would not have appreciated. I found out later, she was seriously thinking of hiring a surrogate to accomplish her pen...