jimwdollar

The First Week

Monday Looking for photographs is the most soothing pursuit of my soul. I’m just looking. At this point, I’m not trying to arrange, prevent, manipulate, control, produce—that will come later when I have narrowed my search to this clump of crocuses and have to remove the dead leaf and the stick, and block the sunlightContinue reading “The First Week”

The Land of the Critters

Once upon a time, in the long ago and far away, there was a land where the Critters lived. There were blue Critters, and red Critters. There were orange Critters and purple Critters. There were pink, green, and yellow Critters; pink-and-green Critters; green-and-yellow Critters; plaid Critters; pale Critters; striped, and splotched, and dotted Critters… ThereContinue reading “The Land of the Critters”

The Dome

The Domes were built by the survivors of the Great War to enable the continuation of life on earth. They were large, air-tight, multi-level structures in which every square inch of space was utilized in the effort to support life. They were coated on the inside with a special sun-absorbent paint which made the domesContinue reading “The Dome”

The Magic Stick

One day, Michael Smith decided to go for a walk in the woods, but when he got there, he found that the woods had been cleared away to make room for a shopping center. All that was left of the beautiful forest was one scrubby, scraggly, skinned-up stick, standing in the midst of acres ofContinue reading “The Magic Stick”

The Little Engine Revisited

Chug-chugging and puff-puffing, the Little Engine rounded a bend and came upon a stalled train loaded with toys and food, sitting on a side track at the foot of a very high mountain. “Deja vu!” said the Little Engine. The sight reminded her of the day she made her mark in the world of trainContinue reading “The Little Engine Revisited”

The Story of Wallace Boggs

Wallace Boggs wanted to fly. He wanted to fly more than anything in all the world. But there was one slight problem with his being able to realize his dream. Wallace Boggs was a 217 pound pig. Now, you might think it is ridiculous for a 217 pound pig to want to fly, and, perhaps,Continue reading “The Story of Wallace Boggs”

Sir Sidney The Brave

Sidney Wascomb liked to walk through the town junk yard on his way home from school. Every afternoon he would nose around in heaps of trash, digging and tugging, shifting and piling, looking for anything unusual and useful. One day, at the bottom of an exceptionally large mound of rubbish, Sidney came upon the findContinue reading “Sir Sidney The Brave”

The Frog King

It happened quite by accident deep in the night when the moon was dark and dense clouds covered the sky, and no one could see anything if they were awake that late, looking, which the Wicked Witch Peggy of the Dismal Forest was. Of course, you couldn’t actually say she was “looking” for anything—it wasContinue reading “The Frog King”

Sour Sophie

During my childhood, Sour Sophie Morgan was The Enemy, and we were at war. We had always been at war. The war in which we were engaged had a timeless, always present sense about it, which made it a lot like grandfathers and bubble gum. It was so much a part of the way thingsContinue reading “Sour Sophie”

Kiddie Hawk

Joey Maynard was gone on Monday. We looked everywhere for him, but he was not to be found. He had vanished. I was only seven years old at the time, and that was a long time ago, but I’ll never forget Joey’s disappearance and the impact it had on us all. We had played Rope-and-Brand-’UmContinue reading “Kiddie Hawk”