My Private Wobegon
stories from home
Perfect Knowledge By Jeff Thompson
I stood in the shower this morning while the rest
of the house slept, and reached for the soap to wash away the grime
of yesterday.
I smile at the image my son imprinted on the dwindling bar during
last night's bath.
There is a recollection of my wincing admonition to put the soap
down, as he held it to his mouth and sunk his teeth into one end
like a
sandwich.
He only smiled as I took it from his miniature hands and lay it
out of reach, too young to somehow know that it was meant to taste
bad or that there could come a day when his words might implore
me to return the bitterness of it to his mouth.
Now it is my turn to bathe, and I lose my smile as
the half moon indentation made by his toddler's teeth, melts away
from its glistening white surface, defenseless against the change.
Jeff Thompson Jeff Thompson lives and works in Dayton, Ohio with his wife Julie, their two year old son, Luke, and Luke's baby brother or sister-to-be, due in December 2003. When he's not hard at play with his family, he spends his days as a marketing manager for the Dayton Dragons Baseball Team, a minor league affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds.
He spends the rest of his time completing his first novel, a murder mystery, and manages to sleep occasionally. Jeff may be contacted at JJandLThompson@aol.com.
Previous Stories
- Christmas Noir (7/03/03)
- Matthews Avenue, Bronx, N.Y., September '78 (7/03/03)
- Ectoplasm at the Waffle House (5/20/03)
- Perfect Knowledge (5/20/03)
- The King is Alive and Well at the Local Sub Shop (4/16/03)
- Pears (4/16/03)
- A Cataclysmic Economic Downturn (3/15/03)
- Small Town Full of Big Stories (3/15/03)
- Coffebreak (3/15/03)
- The Recipe for Gravity (2/1/03)
- Appalachian Breeze (2/1/03)
- Cassiopeia (12/20/02)
- The Girl Who Learned to Levitate By First Learning to Breathe (12/20/02)
- Slow Death in the Waiting Room (11/1/02)
- Sneakers on a Wire (11/1/02)
- Casserole Ladies (9/15/02)
- Pain Redux (9/15/02)
- Drinks All Around (7/1/02)
- Wasteland Golf (5/22/02)
- Bob Perryman (5/22/02)
- Something Better (5/1/02)
- Memories (5/1/02)
- mn/twelve (4/1/02)
- Planting Wisteria (4/1/02)
- Pancake Surprise (4/1/02)
- On Turning 50, in Texas (3/1/02)
- Girl Scout Gets Stuck (3/1/02)
- Bullroarer (3/1/02)
- Stella Maris (2/15/02)
- The Cooking Circle (2/15/01)
- A Glance Back (2/1/02)
- The Long Goodbye (2/1/02)
- Now It Looks Respectable (12/15/01)
- Ordinary Poets (12/15/01)
- Fisherman's Son (11/1/01)
- The Dreamer (11/1/01)
- What Happened During the Ice Storm (10/6/01)
- Her Most Perfect Day Ever (9/15/01)
- I Have the Serpent Brought (8/30/01)
Now Available:
A Christmas Blizzard
GK's New Holiday Story
A comic novella about a Hawaii-bound holiday traveler who ends up stranded in his North Dakota hometown.
Audio edition also available»
The Prairie Home cruise has become legendary on two of the Seven Seas and now is setting sail on a third, a weeklong spring break cruise of the western Caribbean along the Mexican coast, and it leaves March 14 from Tampa.
Stories of a Wobegon romance far from home, all delivered with Garrison Keillor's trademark humor.
Read the first chapter»Signed Copies Available»
The latest collection of Lake Wobegon short stories gathered from live broadcasts include Confirmation Sunday, the church directory photos, Pastor Ingqvist's leather bound sermons along with song lyrics and the "95 Theses," among others. Companion audio also available.
Order now!»