Raphael's Village

Regular contributor Jeff Gardiner has had his contemporary novel, MYOPIA, published by Crooked Cat Books.

MYOPIA explores the themes of bullying and prejudice. Jerry has to respond to being bullied in creative ways, discovering that being short-sighted is not a disability but just a new way of seeing things. He learns a lot about himself and the boy who is making his life such a misery. It is a novel about friendship, growing up and learning the hard way.

For more information please visit www.jeffgardiner.com or http://jeffgardiner.wordpress.com/ 

MYOPIA can be purchased at Amazon.

A new poem about the beauty of the season from one of our regular contributors. Poetry Editor

Ermine Winter, by Richard Hartwell

A hilarious take on "children's entertainment", and where humor writers go to hide, from a new contributor. Humor Editor

Wacky Willy’s, by Candice Carnes

Wacky Willy’s restaurant caters to small children and specializes in developing vices that will someday grow into full blown addictions and dysfunction. For the bargain price of a second mortgage on their parents’ house, kids can indulge in: gambling, rough-housing, excessive spending, fighting, whining, cheating, and stealing, all while hopped up on legal stimulants such as cake and caffeinated sodas.

It’s heaven!

A new contributor gives us a reminder that not all bullies are in the classroom and not all friends can be seen. Fiction Editor

B.Obby, by Michael Robertson

Sitting on the packed and sweaty school bus, staring intently at his peers like a cheerful little mole, Bobby is close enough to the back to hear what the older and cooler kids are saying, but not so close as to be ejected from his seat by someone higher up in the social pecking order. While staring at a boy two years above him at school, listening to his conversation about getting drunk, Bobby laughs and says, “I know exactly what you mean.”

The conversation stops dead and they regard the eager twelve year old with utter contempt. The boy then snorts a laugh and returns to his conversation. Bobby pretends not to be hurt by this, runs a hand over his cropped fuzzy hair, and beams his broad and indomitable smile at his peers. None of them notice.

A different kind of ghost story from one of our favorite contributors. Fiction Editor

Sabbath with Auth Helen, by Susan Lindsey

It didn’t take long before weird things started happening. On the first night in her new home, Megan crawled into bed, exhausted after moving boxes and furniture all day. Moving day sucked when all your relatives were six states away.

As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she saw a faint glow in the center of the ceiling. She turned on the bedside lamp and saw nothing. She turned it off again. As soon as her eyes adjusted to the dark, there was that faint light again. She realized it was coming from the attic, through the edges of the hole cut for the light fixture.

Frequent contributor Heather Gregson has a new middle grade historical fiction novel, A DOG OF WAR, releasing in November 2012.

Farm dog Tierza is devoted to her human boy, Aaron. Their idyllic life is interrupted when the German Army invades. Forced from their farm, Tierza accompanies her family to the Warsaw Ghetto. Together with her boy, they try and live as normal a life as possible under the terrible circumstances. For Tierza, all of that ends when her Aaron is taken by German soldiers and forced onto a train. Relentlessly she follows the traintracks. During her journey, she meets different people and tries her best to aid them any way she can, but she never stays for long. Her love for her boy drives her ever onward to the end of the tracks and her boy’s fate.

In the face of unspeakable cruelty, a loyal dog endures an epic journey while witnessing the horrors of war to find her beloved boy. A DOG OF WAR, by Heather Gregson -- available November 2012 from WritersAmuseMe.com http://www.writersamuseme.com/heathergregson.htm

Frequent contributor Bruce J. Berger has a new short collection out -- "Dear Grandpa and Other Stories".

"Dear Grandpa and Other Stories" is a collection of six linked short stories relating the adventures of Gene Steiner, a recent widower as of the beginning of the collection. Gene must overcome depression and the desire to end it all, fight loneliness, and regain his ability to enjoy life's possibilities. An old and very closel friend, Alexis, and Gene's daughter, Emily, connive to get Gene and Alexis together. Will this work?

Get your copy today at Amazon.com! (www.amazon.com/Dear-Grandpa-Other-Stories-ebook/dp/B00988NA3Y/ref=sr_1_2)

Enjoy this story of parents, marriage, and life's little challenges. Fiction Editor

The Picnic, by M. V. Lerner

The sharp crack as shards of glass shattered across the Mexican tile floor was immediately followed by two sounds: a muttered “shit” and a wailed “Mommy.” Stephanie sighed, put down her margarita and gathered the little girl to her.

Enjoy this story of creation and philosophy. Fiction Editor

Beheld, by Roland Allnach
    
In the Beginning, the Deity pondered.

A lovely story of an innocent child and a recalcitrant cat. Fiction Editor

Dratted Cat, by KJ Hannah Greenberg

Dratted cat! Stupid pussy snoo! Bad, bat kitty. Come back.

Now that the 4th of July celebrations in the U.S. are over, join us while we look at a different form of freedom with its own reason to celebrate. Narrative Non-Fiction Editor

Independence Day, by Susan Lindsey

Maybe they won’t fire me. Maybe I’ll have to keep working here.

A new poem from one of our faithful contributors, about how sounds and what makes them can affect you. Poetry Editor

Sound, by Richard Hartwell

Enjoy this story of diapers, real estate and the importance of keeping a clean home. Humor Editor

Home Truths, by Jeff Gardiner

Alan lifted up his thirteen-month-old daughter and sniffed her bottom.

We're welcoming summer with this lovely poem from a regular contributor that celebrates the lovely outdoors. Poetry Editor

Backyard, by Richard Hartwell

Pushcart Prize nominee, National Endowment for the Humanities awardee, designated Keeper of the Hibernaculum of Imaginary Hedgehogs, and frequent contributor KJ Hannah Greenberg brings her whimsical and peculiar vision to Bards and Sages Publishing with Don't Pet the Sweaty Things. This collection of seventy flash fiction and short stories will delight, amuse, and, in some cases, pleasantly confuse readers. Regular readers of the Bards and Sages Quarterly and Raphael's Village are already familiar with Greenberg's unique brand of storytelling.

Available in trade paperback and ebook formats: http://www.bardsandsages.com/greenberg

A comedic story about children, growing up and fire. Humor Editor

The Great Chessini, by Sej Harman

He leaned through the swinging door into the dining room, where we’d just spread out our books and papers on the scarred and dull table, and whispered conspiratorially, “Come on in the kitchen. I’ve got something to show you. But you gotta be quiet and you can’t tell. Not anybody. You’ll laugh your asses off, ladies. You just gotta see this.” And grinning, he let the door swoosh shut.

A new poem about crossings and assumptions, from one of our most regular contributors. Poetry Editor

Sonblock, by Richard Hartwell

Enjoy this slice of life on a tough neighborhood street that not be all it appears to be. Fiction Editor

My Street Brother, by Richard Hartwell

I see on a page of poetry by Thomas Merton, the line “My sweet brother.” What I read and process instead is the line, “My street brother.” It sticks in my mind and becomes mixed with the street scenes and people on Base Line Street in San Bernardino. I travel this route twice daily and I see many of the so-called street people. And yes, they are my brothers and sisters; perhaps not by blood or birth, but by the shared humanity we must all have in common.

This piece was written several years ago, but, as with all IRS-related humor, it still holds up. We thank the author for allowing us to reprint it here in honor of the Internal Revenue Service's Annual Mid-Year Christmas Party. Humor Editor

Tax Day! Or What Will Uncle Sam Send Me THIS Year?, by Jeanne Cook

There is one thing that unites us all -- men, women, children, animals, celebrities and most corporations -- we all have to pay taxes and none of us really want to.

How to figure out how much living space you really have, by one of our regular contributors. Humor Editor

Kinross Lane, by Richard Hartwell

I live in a house on Kinross Lane. Pleasant sounding, as if it invites you to stop and chat on the front porch, which it doesn’t have, or to visit over a picket fence, which it also doesn’t have.