CJ Woods III’s Story Archive

The Kindness of Strangers

July 17, 2014 | by CJ Woods III

The landline to my friend’s house rang, and I answered it. “Nancy?” a woman’s voice inquired. I told her that my friend was in Colorado, and I was caretaking the house and animals. “Well, I wanted to tell her that there was a strange car parked in her mother’s driveway,” … Read More

Beasts of The Southern Indiana Wild

July 10, 2014 | by CJ Woods III

I was preparing to leave a poolroom in Louisville, Kentucky, when I met a man who wanted to shoot pool. He introduced me to his wife, and in between games, we chatted. I told them that I was house sitting while my friend was on vacation. “The most important parts … Read More

Forgetting Nemo

July 3, 2014 | by CJ Woods III

An art director for L.S. Ayres went to dinner with her small child. The child was four years old, and was carried into the restaurant on her mother’s arm. The mother was almost home when she realized that she had forgotten to bring her child with her. The manager of … Read More

Bub

June 26, 2014 | by CJ Woods III

I was looking at a copy of a handwritten document from the 1930 census and saw the list of my grandfather’s children. The census taker wrote down the names of my father’s brothers and sisters and I laughed when I saw the legal name of my uncle, “Bub.” My father … Read More

Magic Words

June 19, 2014 | by CJ Woods III

Someone wrote to identify the day’s “magic word” and I wondered what made the word “magic.” I was told that the word had balance: consonant, vowel, consonant, vowel . . . the eight-letter word had been born magical. My son once said to me, “I can remember when all those … Read More