Jay Kasperbauer

“Mirada de Caballo” by Jay Kasperbauer

Submitted to Contest #27

The iron beams that span the land and jut beyond into infinity begin to quake. The tremble in the parallel rails intensifies and the engine is heard, faintly. The sound of heavy mechanical movement. There is no horn because no crossing exists. As the train approaches and passes, each set of wheels on the linked train cars make a slow and steady thump.Hhhwhum...hhhwhum…hhhwhum.The train moves beyond the pasture and the noise fades. On the edge of a field stands three horses in a semicircle, each a few yards from the next. The foremost horse h...

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“Echelon” by Jay Kasperbauer

Submitted to Contest #12

The pale sun lifted over the distant mountains. The vast and flat land was illuminated and the dirt and sand underneath the horse slowly warmed. It was a cut horse and the best one the ranch owner had seen in his career. It was possible that a fog had clouded the exactness of the details of his memory as it stretched over time, forming a bias of his opinion on the current horse or any one previous. The old man had been leading this present horse throughout the rugged desert terrain for a decade, rounding his cattle about. The buckskin horse ...

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“Truth or Consequences, New Mexico” by Jay Kasperbauer

Submitted to Contest #8

The little mortuary sat on the corner with the parking lot squeezed in just to the west. In the tiny town it sat adjacent to a single-story hardware store on one side and a modest post office on the other as if to say that the services provided by the three businesses, alike in size and appearance, were of equal and regular utility to the townspeople.The captain slowly rolled his four-by-four over the steep entrance ramp and into the parking lot, leaning forward over the steering wheel while gazing at the building’s windows with his mouth op...

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“Iota” by Jay Kasperbauer

Submitted to Contest #8

Just west of Socorro, New Mexico where the highway splits from the interstate due south west, the soapweed yucca and sage brush screens the vast flat land as far as sight allows. Yellow wild flowers grow in the shade yearning for the hot desert rain. The arid sand floor is alive with creatures, indistinguishable from far. At a blurry distance the surrounding earth appears pale terracotta.He shifts his big rig downward as he approaches the paved descent. The inside of his cab smells of stale air. The pine-scented air freshener bought in Amari...

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“Carlotta (Desert Queen)” by Jay Kasperbauer

Submitted to Contest #7

Dear Reverend,In your entire life if you never experience true love or if you find yourself questioning love or the strength of your love for someone else, please read this letter. Its contents are entirely factual, I assure you. I have probably overshared many details but it is my best effort to explain things this way so that you can see that I am genuine and candid and so that you can understand the exact details, as best I can describe them, of how I found love (or how love found me). After presenting the information, I will discuss the ...

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“Ice Cream” by Jay Kasperbauer

Submitted to Contest #7

By anybody’s measure he was not intelligent. He was incapable of making informed decisions or conclusions. There wasn’t a subject in which he was versed. Just nonsense and blank space in his mind. At a young age he was put in classes with the other slow learners. Him and the others worked at a slower pace and covered less subject matter than the rest of the students. He knew of his enrollment in the special classes, it’s not like anyone tried to hide it. It didn’t matter to him anyway. Throughout his or her life, a mentally deficient person ...

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“IOTA” by Jay Kasperbauer

Submitted to Contest #5

Just west of Socorro, New Mexico where the highway splits from the interstate due south west, the soapweed yucca and sage brush screens the vast flat land as far as sight allows. Yellow wild flowers grow in the shade yearning for the hot desert rain. The arid sand floor is alive with creatures, indistinguishable from far. At a blurry distance the surrounding earth appears pale terracotta.He shifts his big rig downward as he approaches the paved descent. The inside of his cab smells of stale air. The pine-scented air freshener bought in Amari...

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“WHITNEY (WHISKEY)” by Jay Kasperbauer

Before I knew Whitney, my life was full of plightBefore I knew Whitney, I wasn’t driven by the fightBefore I knew Whitney, my life was full of painAnd before I knew Whitney, I was full of doubt and disdain Before I knew Whitney, I wasn’t very braveAnd before I knew Whitney, I needed to be savedNow that I’ve met Whitney, my life is full of funAnd now that I’ve met Whitney, the days flow into oneBut now that I’ve met Whitney, my wallet’s feeling thinAnd ever since I met Whitney, the walls around me spinI wish I could quit Whitney, so that...

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“HENPECK” by Jay Kasperbauer

Submitted to Contest #5

The alarm went off and would have woken him had he not already been awake. He found himself fully rested by the time it rang. From where he laid he could still see the horizontal lines of street light askew on the wall next to the bed. It was hardly dusk yet and half of the world was still asleep. With his left hand he tossed the blanket aside and slid his legs to the edge of the bed as he sat upright. After a brief moment of thoughtlessness he recounted his dreams. Another recurring dream, nothing new to interpret. Windows open, he sat with...

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“NEW MOON” by Jay Kasperbauer

Submitted to Contest #4

“Gentlemen.”“Mornin’.” The deputy said. His son politely nodded at the waitress.“Care for coffee this morning?”“Yes. Black.” “I’ll have the same with a little cream if you got it.”“Sugar?”“No thanks, ma’am.”“I’ll be back in a hurry to get your order.”“Thanks.”“I often wonder how many times I been here in my lifetime.” The deputy said to his adult son. “Care to take a guess?” The son asked.“Hard to say. Damn near every day when I was first gettin’ started out as a junior deputy. Not so much anymore.”“Ya? Why do you think that is, da...

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