DELTA SHORTS: David “Straight” and Adelaide By WILLIAM PRENTISS WARNING: See end of post! David was always a good boy and now was a fine man. The self-effacing farmer/historian was an anomaly among modern Delta planters. He only took one drink before dinner, and that more out of habit; he didn’t hunt or fish, […]
Blue: King of the Walking People
September 9, 2011 9 Comments
DELTA SHORTS: Blue: King of the Walking People By WILLIAM PRENTISS WARNING: See end of post! Blue didn’t give a damn what folks thought. He had carved out a nice living for a 45-year old, uneducated black man in the Mississippi Delta. He didn’t have much, but he didn’t owe much, except whatever he […]
Eddie: The Right Pope of Bongwater
September 2, 2011 4 Comments
DELTA SHORTS Eddie: The Right Pope of Bongwater By WILLIAM PRENTISS WARNING: This story, though ultimately shrouded in redemption, does portray some characters in their basest state, including coarse language, non-gratuitous graphic sexuality, and internal dialogue and behaviors, which include obvious incidents of racism, sexism, and behaviors unbecoming those seen in a moral and […]
Genevieve
August 25, 2011 2 Comments
DELTA SHORTS Genevieve By WILLIAM PRENTISS WARNING: This story, though ultimately shrouded in redemption, does portray some characters in their basest state, including coarse language, non-gratuitous graphic sexuality, and internal dialogue and behaviors, which include obvious incidents of racism, sexism, and behaviors unbecoming those seen in a moral and polite society. Please read no […]
Grinnel
August 19, 2011 8 Comments
DELTA SHORTS Grinnel By WILLIAM PRENTISS WARNING: This story, though ultimately shrouded in redemption, does portray some characters in their basest state, including coarse language, non-gratuitous graphic sexuality, and internal dialogue and behaviors, which include obvious incidents of racism, sexism, and behaviors unbecoming those seen in a moral and polite society. Please read no […]
Father Percy and Milky Steve
August 11, 2011 6 Comments
WARNING: This story, though ultimately shrouded in redemption, does portray some characters in their basest state, including coarse language, non-gratuitous graphic sexuality, and internal dialogue and behaviors, which include obvious incidents of racism, sexism, and behaviors unbecoming those seen in a moral and polite society. Please read no malicious intent into the author’s purpose for […]
Carlene
August 5, 2011 12 Comments
A DELTA SHORT: By WILLIAM PRENTISS WARNING: This story, though ultimately shrouded in redemption, does portray some characters in their basest state, including coarse language, non-gratuitous graphic sexuality, and internal dialogue and behaviors, which include obvious incidents of racism, sexism, and behaviors unbecoming those seen in a moral and polite society. Please read no malicious […]
The Delta Queens: Shells of a Different Shade
June 16, 2011 1 Comment
DELTA SHORTS: The Delta Queens: Shells of a Different Shade By WILLIAM PRENTISS Vestura had never been to the ocean; in fact, she had never left the Delta. In contemporary parlance, she was a domestic–a maid in days gone by. A complete lack of formal education was overshadowed by her intrinsic common sense. Though […]
Where’d He Go Submission by Guest Delta Bohemian Writer Josh Vaughan – EYES OF THE LAKE HAG
June 8, 2011 2 Comments
DELTA SHORTS Where’d He Go? Submission by Guest Delta Bohemian Josh Vaughan EYES OF THE LAKE HAG Delta Bohemian readers were encouraged to write what they think happened to the fellow who once inhabited the clothes in the picture accompany this article. The winner was […]
Where’d He Go? … A New Delta Short which begs for Delta Bohemian Writers to respond!
May 26, 2011 5 Comments
DELTA SHORTS Where’d He Go? Thanks to Jimmy Carter, brother of the Delta Bohemian website guru and all-around great guy–Cal Carter with Gulf Shores Condos, the picture accompanying this will be the basis for a DELTA SHORTS story to be published next week. Delta Bohemian readers are encouraged to write what they think happened to […]
Alligators and Off Switches
April 21, 2011 2 Comments
DELTA SHORTS Alligators and Off Switches By WILLIAM PRENTISS Impetuous Pablo thought he still possessed the agility and grace of the old jungle cat he used to think he was–mobile, agile, hostile, in search of the nubile. Alas, he was measured and found wanting: he was merely fragile, docile, senile, and non-facile. Getting […]
Juke Joint Love
April 14, 2011 3 Comments
By WILLIAM PRENTISS It had been over a year to no avail. Simone and Darryl never met, even then. She had been on stage and he had been hungrily eyeing her– not a morality-leaching hunger, but one of expectancy laced with awe–from behind the fellow in the crazy-ass hat. Simone had never been stopped dead […]
Delta Delusions: Faces
March 24, 2011 3 Comments
By WILLIAM PRENTISS CLARKSDALE, Mississippi I see faces everywhere and in everything, always have, but I had never seen them in second story windows–not until recently. I doubt I am alone in fearing hollow faces peering out from lonely windows! I see faces in clouds, trees, rock formations, paintings, and just about any collection of found […]
Delta Delusions: Captive
March 17, 2011 Leave a Comment
DELTA SHORTS Delta Delusions: Captive Why are they holding me captive? What the hell did I do to deserve this treatment? I am alone; I can’t see. What in the Sam Hill do these people think they are doing to me? Where in the hell am I? I am being held against my will. […]
Delta Delusions: Hooked
March 10, 2011 Leave a Comment
DELTA SHORTS Delta Delusions: Hooked By WILLIAM PRENTISS I had never taken drugs in my life; well, I had smelled marijuana once in high school when double dating with a real creep. He was driving and I couldn’t really say anything because he carried a big-ass knife and I was in the backseat with […]
Delta Delusions: Ain’t No Bugs On Me
March 3, 2011 Leave a Comment
DELTA SHORTS: DELTA DELUSIONS Ain’t No Bugs On Me By WILLIAM PRENTISS My grandmother ruined me. I never had a chance against a bug. She used to give me an old metal bug sprayer and tell me, “Get that bug Bill!” She meant, “Bill, you better get that bug before it gets you!” […]
Delta Delusions: Reflections at Cutrer: A Ghost from the Past
February 24, 2011 4 Comments
By POOR WILLIAM CLARKSDALE, Mississippi NOTE: The following fictional story was the winner in the 2008 Delta Writer’s Association’s Tennessee Williams Festival Writing Contest. It was published in the Clarksdale Press Register in October 2008. What is it about familiar spirits—a Judeo-Christian concept, which holds that evil spirits can and do present themselves to select […]
Delta Dreaming on a Winter’s Day
February 17, 2011 6 Comments
By POOR WILLIAM NOTE: Thanks to Brooks Ann Gaston and Delilah Hollis, both who responded to Poor William’s posted-on-Facebook request for subject matter for this week’s Delta Shorts flash fiction story. What follows is the opening line suggested by Brooks Ann and the title is from Delilah. “Why does everyone in the south want snow, […]
Delta Delusions: The Stabbin’ Cabin
February 3, 2011 Leave a Comment
By WILLIAM PRENTISS The name, Stabbin’ Cabin’, was supposed to be a Delta joke. Hell, nobody was supposed to get hurt. The early spring evening was pleasant, but there was a hint of turmoil riding the gentle winds. No gunfire or disturbances had been noted in Friars Point, a Delta hamlet just north of Clarksdale […]
Delta Delusions: Black on Black
January 25, 2011 Leave a Comment
By William Prentiss Can sounds kaleidoscope? I remember as a child looking into the viewfinder and seeing multi-colored striations, small geometric shapes, and reticulated patterns making sense and no sense at all. I was drawn to the twisting patterns of the kaleidoscope as a moth is to the flame. Sounds are buzzing in my ear. […]
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