CJ Woods III’s Story Archive

The Lion and the Lamb

February 28, 2019 | by CJ Woods III

The low moans of the wind through the trees outside my bedroom window woke me, and I listened to the sound of the snapping, slapping and scraping of branches against the roof of my apartment building. From my rumpled bed, I heard the caprice of the wind, knowing that in … Read More

A Difficult History

February 21, 2019 | by CJ Woods III

A few years ago, I spent some time in the city of my birth, helping my youngest brother to recover from a bout of illness. While in Pittsburgh, I found that a playwright I admired – and whose play, “Fences,” I had seen at the Indiana Repertory Theater — had … Read More

Gunfire

February 14, 2019 | by CJ Woods III

In The Stingray Shuffle, a 2003 novel by Tim Dorsey, a character reads the news, and notes to his companion, “Second-grader brings gun to school. Jesus, what ever happened to just sticking out your tongue?” That same character, later in the novel, recites a seemingly random list of pleasures, which … Read More

And Now, a Word From Our Readers

February 7, 2019 | by CJ Woods III

“Hi!” The woman’s voice was bright and open, and her greeting, aimed at me, was surprising. I was at a celebration of First Friday and was passing the 5th grade boy who was playing the old piano in the Harrison Center when she beamed her smile at me. I responded … Read More

Telling Stories

January 31, 2019 | by CJ Woods III

Phil Lofton came up to me at the Harrison Center on First Friday, January 5th, and said that I looked familiar. “Do you spend time at Ash and Elm?” I laughed, then averred that I did spend time at my favorite cider house. After we exchanged names, I remembered that … Read More