Tales to Warm Your Mind by David A. Woodbury is a volume of ten whimsically morbid short stories which could be dedicated to those who have seen the extraordinary and have remained silent about it. In this collection, a train leaves the station and is never seen again, a boy falls in love with a face from 60 years before, an old woman trudges into her past, a child crawls into a place that is not suspected to exist and the entrance has disappeared behind him, and more.
Read it now: Two stories from this collection are on line and linked below.
Available in quality paperback, 175 pages, $9 at Amazon, Kindle edition $2.
Stories in the Collection
The stories “Off Course” and “In School Days” are free to read on line.
Racing the Light at Dershem’s Corner — A line of elms stood sentry on each side of the road just before the new, improved ramp approach to the state highway intersection. As we came upon the elms, which up to now had obscured any view of the traffic light itself, I saw a glint of red through the branches.
Off Course (read now) — No one today suspects how an elderly couple first met in their younger days.
The Dentist’s Proffered Testimony — The Dentist’s proffered testimony, locked against public discovery for 87 years, until discovered in 1999, explains the disappearance of an entire railroad train in April, 1912.
The Resting Place — cool, dark, and too well hidden
How Miss Plover Handled Boxer Poop — without using gloves
That Face — When we pedaled our bikes back toward Kenny’s house, taking turns with the sloshing pot, we discovered what happens when a black, cricket-sized catfish hits blacktop that has been bubbling under the noonday sun.
Camping in Maine — Teenage cousins Danny and David attempt an overnight in the Maine woods.
Unjust Desserts — a fable
Weary — Memories were pleasant when they showed up, but they were like chipmunks or like hummingbirds: they came and went of their own accord, not to be captured and held for later examination and enjoyment.
In School Days (read now) — He lives to learn, In life’s hard school, How few who pass above him, Lament their triumph and his loss, Like her — because they love him.
Stop, Look, Listen (read now) — the song by the Irish Rovers that inspired the title of the short story collection, Tales to Warm Your Mind
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