Amarillo Bay Contents
Volume 10 Number 1

Fiction

La Forza Del Destino   by Timothy Reilly
The world is full of mysteries defying the boundaries of coincidence. I recently read a newspaper article about a thief who was beaten senseless with the bell end of a stolen musical instrument: an outdated member of the low-brass family, called a cimbasso. The rare musical instrument had been the property of a professional tubaist, whose house had been burgled three times in the span of a month. But it wasn't the musician who did the beating; it was an accomplice thief, battling on the front lawn of an apartment complex--two miles from the crime scene--for the rights to a stolen, inoperable mantle clock. The weapon's uniqueness caught the attention of an Italian musicologist, who happened to be on his way to deliver a paper on Verdi's use of valve trombones in La Forza del Destino. The musicologist alerted the police, who in turn raided the apartment complex and broke up a burglary ring that had been frustrating both police and local residents for nearly a year. continue

Gin Mill Tigers   by Susan Fabry Daniels
It was early spring and the cat was in a killing spell. Every day there was new evidence of her butchery. Sometimes it would be an entire mole. Sometimes it was half a mouse--the tail half, or, more titillating, just the head. Sometimes it was just an array of stained feathers clumped in the nearly dry birdbath. Jake would stare at these remains for a long time, contemplating the creatures' demises. continue

The Green-Eyed Monkey Business   by D. E. Fredd
What does one do immediately after completing a doctorate in comparative literature? The short answer is to take a three-week course at Mike's Mixology Academy from six to ten, four nights a week. The top three graduates got free placement service, which is how I hooked up with the owners of a downtown Portland, Maine, restaurant. continue

The Little Friend   by Barry Jay Kaplan
The highway stretched out in front of them in long, easy curves. Marcia sat in the front seat and, for the first hour or so of the trip, swiveled her head between Ben at the wheel and David in the back seat. She was glad when David finally stretched out and fell asleep. Now she could devote all her attention to Ben. continue

On the Boughs Our Bodies Shall Be Strung   by Robert Wexelblatt
I was sure I'd come too late.
Even from the outside the house--half-timbered, gabled, its once-white stucco turned to gray--appeared to be in mourning. In spite of the sultry air, the curtains were drawn; the grass was growing wild. A light rain fell from heavy clouds so low they looked like boulders about to crush the horizon. continue

Creative Nonfiction

OILCH: A Mini-Mock Epic in Prose   by Vicki Sapp
"Mademoiselle, vous etes en retard."
What did he say? Did my teacher just call me a retard? continue

Poetry

Eyes. Smiles. Light.   by David LaBounty
thin, pale, blonde,
she was braces on her
teeth and lines in her face continue

I Know   by David LaBounty
I know the blood, continue

A Poem For All the Eyes That Turned the Other Way   by David LaBounty
and yes, continue

Joyride   by Aleathia Drehmer
He smells of coffee
and cigarettes
as he grips
the steering wheel,
one handed
stiff armed,
driving 80 mph
down the empty
four-lane. continue

The Man Asleep in the Corner Over There   by William C. Blome
The man asleep in the corner over there
dreams of apples with long arms and legs
playing, swimming and treading water
in the yellow-bottom pool he gazes down upon
from his balcony way, way overhead. continue

Sequence   by William C. Blome
Fat kids picnic slowly
by the lake. When they leave,
baked beans are everywhere. continue

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