Category: Covered With Snow

Prologue: The Face of The Deep

The Columbia Icefield, August, 2019… Cece Paine, Professor of Glacial Geology at the University of British Columbia, is not sure, when she crunches out of her tent in unlaced, crampon-clad boots, if a spot of bright green deep in the crevasse lit by her headlamp is not a dropped hat or mitten. She hopes it…… Continue reading Prologue: The Face of The Deep

One: Octopus

The Boston Arena, March, 1965… Otis Fletcher is used to sticky, constrained, desperate situations: man-sweat sharp with fear, arms taut, and ribs and faces entwined, high-tops scrabbling the bull’s-eye mat, not sure he can hold on one more second, or wants to. Ear guards damp grunts; thrashing masks pain (blood sometimes too, if the ref…… Continue reading One: Octopus

Two: Brothers

August, 1966… A year and a half later, all three Fletcher boys left home within days of each other: Henry to Vietnam for his second tour, Billy to start prep school up in New Hampshire, and Otis three hours west to the Berkshires to start Deden-Fisher College, his top choice despite it being all male.…… Continue reading Two: Brothers

Three: Acceptance

Summer, 1967… The following June, Billy returned to summer camp in Maine. Henry wasn’t due back from Vietnam until fall. Otis was working at Sucre Flambé, Dirkden’s fanciest French restaurant, washing dishes, unloading delivery trucks, and keeping its walk-in fridge organized. On his day off, his parents proposed splurging for a meal there together. “We’d…… Continue reading Three: Acceptance