Thanks to Bodega Magazine for publishing my story, “Gifts”, in its 100th issue (and for nominating the story for a Pushcart Prize):

“Sit up straight. Chew carefully. Today is the day you’re meeting them—the family who read about you on a bulletin board and offered to help. They have a long low house designed by an architect (him). Angular windows and muted colors. She, the mother, has styled gray hair and namelessly expensive clothes.
“Natural fibers.
“Steam-crisp vegetables.
“Multigrain bread.
“You are eating a salad sandwich, full of crunchy things and juices that gather in the corners of your mouth. Don’t worry, they say. The mayo is homemade.”
Read the rest here.