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Stories on the Kindness of Strangers

Thank You, Jesus
A guest post on the kindness of strangers by Tom Fish: "Not that day, not at Toronto Pearson."
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Holly Starley
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Tom Fish
32
Travel Is a Topo Map
aka, Waiting for the Gringa: The moment my “weightlessness” dawns on me, time goes haywire. I pull up my pants and do the only thing I can. Run.
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Holly Starley
33
Cabbagetown and the Coco Cola House
Guest post by Duwan Dunn: "Bertha has lived in Cabbagetown for a long time, long before it was sane for any African American to do so. ... At first I…
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Holly Starley
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Duwan Dunn
43
The Night Vigil
Guest author, Marya Hornbacher: "So sometimes you’re jerry-rigging a box cutter when a tall, slender boy walks over and says, Ma’am, I seen you…
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Holly Starley
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Marya Hornbacher
75
In the Eye of Disaster, the Future
A guest post by Todd Weir: "I grew up knowing to watch the sky and discern its changes. I was 12 years old, waiting for a ride home from baseball…
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Holly Starley
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Todd Weir
31
The Tao of Poo
A manager who smiles with his mouth ushers me into a parallel universe that hides in plain sight at many highway gas stations across the US.
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Holly Starley
47
A Door by Any Other Color
High on the faraway pinions tickling my nostrils, I barely even felt the jolt of contact. So, when I turned to youthful eyes watery with remorse, I…
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Holly Starley
31
Repaying a Karmic Debt
A guest post by Deb Sinness. "The Greyhound bus dropped me in downtown Oceanside with no instructions on how to get to my command on the sprawling…
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Holly Starley
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Deb Sinness
31
Are You There God? It's Me ... You
It’s literally seconds before Bobbi’s laughter cascades around us, lighting the patio like sun emerging from clouds. Its rays put in stark relief not…
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Holly Starley
32
Broke and Thawing near Las Vegas
It’s just me, little smoky gasps from beneath a raised hood, and two $1 bills in my pocket. Lime streaks are drying fast on the windshield of B’s…
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Holly Starley
18
One Man's Repot Lot
I’ve just turned the kettle on for tea when a knock sounds on the van’s side barn doors. I tense for an unpleasant exchange. The pandemic has changed…
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Holly Starley
28
No Room in the Forest
“Do you carry a gun?” It’s not the first time a man has asked me how I plan to defend myself.
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Holly Starley
19
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