Robert Ford

“Driving Hildy to School” by Robert Ford

Submitted to Contest #209

Driving Hildy to School By Bob Ford           “You better hurry or you’ll be late for school,” I called as I got into the car. Though I would never admit it to anyone, Hildy is my favorite daughter. The older one, Julie, seemed to take an instant dislike to me the moment she emerged from the womb. Hildy, on the other hand, as a child had been my little furry caterpillar who would climb into my lap before bedtime and ask me to read her a story. Then, at ten, she had spun herself into a reclu...

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“The Commercial” by Robert Ford

Submitted to Contest #207

The Commercial Cut! Print that one. Set up for the fuckin’ cat food demo.” The foghorn-like voice that filled the sound stage belonged to Jackson Korman, the creative director from Jordan, Day and Green. He was exceedingly short, but very wide and walked like a wounded duck. His face seemed to be locked in a perpetual sneer. But at the moment the sneer looked confused. “Where the hell is the goddam storyboard? Is this what the board calls for?” The script girl dutifully responded, “It is,” she said simply.      ...

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“An Unintended Indiscretion ” by Robert Ford

Submitted to Contest #163

An Unintended Indiscretion           “You’ll never be content,” her mother predicted. “I know you too well. He’s all wrong for you.” In an act of unabashed rejection of parental prognostication, Tolova said. “I know what’s right for me,” and moved in with a man who was a student at Julliard, aspiring to write opera, worked nights playing piano in a neighborhood bar and sang Sundays with an oratorio group. Their single room was in a fifth-floor walk-up in Greenwich Village. “Our lives are l...

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“Vocational Adjustment and The Indispensable Man” by Robert Ford

Submitted to Contest #141

Vocational Adjustment and The Indispensable Man         That they had misspelled Asher Littlefield Sr’s name on his retirement watch was disappointing, but not surprising. It was, in fact, a kind of left-handed tribute to his corporate longevity and his determination to remain virtually invisible so that he might slip through the years totally unnoticed by the gods of employee downsizing.   Several years after his retirement, Asher had an epiphany that he felt compelled to share with his son...

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“The Beast in My Jungle” by Robert Ford

Submitted to Contest #140

The Beast in My Jungle By Robert Ford  When I was a sophomore in college, I took a literature course that was devoted to the extensive novels and short stories of Henry James. Among his many works, I fixated, almost to the point of obsession, on his short story The Beast in the Jungle. The main character is convinced that his life will be defined by some catastrophic or spectacular event and that the event is lying in wait for him like a beast in the jungle waiting to spring. I decided to eliminate the idea that I would suffer a cat...

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“ Metamorphosis ” by Robert Ford

Metamorphosis         I remember the last time I drove my daughter, Hildy, to school and the revelation it became. Or maybe instructive is a better word. Though I would never have admitted it to anyone, she was my favorite daughter. The older one, Julie, seemed to take an instant dislike to me the moment she emerged from the womb, Hildy on the other hand, as a child, had been my little furry caterpillar that would climb into my lap before bedtime and ask me to read a story. Then at ten, she had spun ...

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“Asher Brightendale's Dilemma” by Robert Ford

Submitted to Contest #136

Asher Brightendale’s Dilemmas  Like most things in Asher Brightendale’s life, his attempted suicide was an example of his penchant for dismissing any plan laced with the possibility of failure by summarily replacing it with an obstinate determination to perfectly execute his objective. I.E., he knew, or at least suspected, his suicide by drowning would probably fail, but the portent of humiliation and a damaged ego added to his implacable nature dictated he push ahead anyway. At just after nine p.m. Asher waded into Long Island Sou...

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