Rick was having a hard time remembering how he'd gotten here. Sitting on one side of a square table, across from him the current Mayor, camera lights glaring, engaged in a debate in the Mayoral contest of this town he still planned to move from in a few weeks.

When the primary election returns were counted and it was reported that Rick had won the Democratic nomination handily, Rick had thought it was a joke. He hadn't run, of course, and earlier had told some apparently lunatic local party "elders" that he'd rather eat desiccated mulch than run for this or any other ...read more

"Hi, Rick. Can I come in?" Rita was at Rick's door. She kicked aside a piece of gutter that had fallen across the walk, and stepped into Rick's hallway.

"I brought these for you," Rita said, holding out a packet of papers. "They're listings for condos and town houses in the area."

"What are you talking . . . "

"Let's be honest. You're not comfortable here." Rita pointed through the open front door. Rick saw the hanging gutter and mess of the lawn. He forgot he'd left an old dishwasher out there the other day.

"I'm going to move the dishwasher, Rita. It's only the shell. The motor isn't in it; neither is the ...read more

Rick stood in the grassy triangle outside Starbucks and across the street from the Ye Olde Cheese Shoppe.

The sign on the rusting street lamp at the tip of the triangle said, Downtown Rejuvenation Plan -- On Track, For You.

Rick wondered, is seven years too long a time to enlarge the sidewalks and install a few faux 1930s electric "gas" lamps? Rick had heard several neighbors complaining that the project budget of $31 million seemed excessive for the little
...read more