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Articles by Judy McLain
All the Suck
Judy McLain · Follow 6 min read · -- Whining about loss and other things Photo by Tristen Whitman on Unsplash It’s been a long time since I’ve written anything for Medium. I haven’t been writing at all, an unusually long lapse but I have been pursuing other creative outlets. I’ve also been unwell with a variety of annoying maladies- autoimmune stuff. The reality of Trump is a problem for me and these last few days before election day are hanging heavy on my heart.
Bingo Money & the Luck of the Irish
Fiction "Kennedy," Tooie Murphy yelled from her sun porch. She had started, lately, using the room to change her clothes. The fainting couch she'd moved in so she could recline and watch her hummingbird feeder was just the right height for her to be able to reach her feet when she sat to lace up her shoes. "Kennedy!" she yelled again. Her youngest son promised to drive her to Bingo at the VFW. The ride was a standing date every other Wednesday.
The Influencer
Fiction Paul pushed his cart through the mass of weeds that connected Pierce St. and Grove Avenue. It had once been a paved parking lot when The Luau Club was more than a dive bar. The Luau was the most popular place to take a date back in 1965. Now all that was left of its prior days of glory was the flashing neon sign on the brick wall that faced the lot. As a hula girl's hips and hands moved in opposite directions the sign flashed in vivid green. Luau Club. Parking. Luau Club. Parking.
Finnie & Her Girls
By Judy McLain Fiction Of all places to find hidden talent vintage photo from the author's collection Frances Finnegan was born Frances Cooney in 1889. She was the oldest of twelve children. It was told that her mother had given birth to seventeen but during the Cooney's leanest years in Ireland, five of her children died. Frances spent her childhood tending to her mother's babies. When she turned 12 her...
The High Five
Fiction I got my ass pounded on my first day of public school. I was fourteen and had previously been schooled at home. This beating happened fifty-six days after my father left my mother. It was the day Mom started her new job, the first job she'd held since she was 28 years old. She quit her last job because the office cleaning crew used "caustic chemicals" to clean her workspace every night. She had a tote on her desk with cleaning products that wouldn't make her sick. Vinegar.
Three Sours
By Judy McLain Fiction Photo by Olena Bohovyk: https://www.pexels.com/photo/sliced-orange-fruit-in-clear-drinking-glass-3323682/ "No egg white. One with a candied orange slice, the other two each with a sprig of rosemary. Yes to bitters, three drops. The only reason I come here is you don't use a mix and you keep rosemary on hand. My candied orange too." Max put the three drinks in front of her. She pulled them to her like a poker player scooping up a pile of chips. She...
My Mother Pinchy
By Judy McLain Fiction Learning the facts of life I was eight years old when I found out the person I thought was my mother was not really my mother. Since I could talk, I'd been calling her Pinchy, like everyone else in my extended family but I thought she had given birth to me. I didn't understand how getting babies worked at eight. Neighbor ladies had babies after an extended period of growing...
The Trauma of Obligation
By Judy McLain Fiction Screams from the hilltop Glen Mary stood on the high hill behind her home and screamed. It was 3 a.m. and anyone within range of her screams would probably still be sleeping. If they were awake they might assume they were hearing a wounded coyote, a lone wolf, a stray dog.
440.3 Miles Between Us
6-word Story: Where do you want to travel next?
The Coordinates of Unrequited Love
By Judy McLain Fiction Suzzi will never sob or cry photo of old Valentine by the author -Valentine from the author's collection Valentine's Day was over. Suzzi Fitch woke up on February 15th with the worst feeling of having done something she could never take back. Worse, having done what she did would never go any better than how it went on February 14. It was terrible that she knew she was making a mistake before she...
Shanking the Clown
Fiction When turning a frown upside down isn’t an option There are plenty of things nobody tells you when you are diagnosed with cancer. I guess they prefer to focus on things like the hair on your head falling out. You get so used to hearing about that, you don’t even consider how your mustache will come out in big clumps while you are brushing your teeth. You never imagine that. Eyebrows. And pubic hair.
Quicksand
The night Quicksand arrived at her houseboat on the Teche, Big Momma had two big catfish ready to filet and a pot of stewed okra and tomatoes on her propane burner. She had French bread from her cousin’s store in Thibodaux. Roland didn’t know about these cousins and would never look for her there. She could drive there and back on two dollars' worth of gas.
Win in the Marsh
By Judy McLain Fiction A Christmas story About a month ago I saw a Gallinule floating on the edge of the marsh. Depending on the tide the water can be brackish and I know that Gallinules prefer freshwater. I got the binoculars from the top shelf of the closet I designated as Win's when I moved here. I pulled on my shrimp boots, always stored by the back door of my trailer, in...
Pennsylvania Redneck
By Judy McLain Fiction He wore a red bandana... H.G. was probably too old to play gunslinger the summer he turned 13. Two weeks prior to his birthday nobody would have looked twice to see him with a red bandana knotted around his neck, six-shooter drawn, staring down his best friend Jimmy Stillson. Now that he was 13, Mrs. Orleone was giving him a dirty look as he stood on his front steps and...
The End of Summer
By Judy McLain FICTION and the magic of running aground... Pinchy Waller sat in the emergency room, only half as worried about her toe as she was about Darwin being mad at her. He sat next to her, working the Patient Information Form he'd been given to sign into a tight twist. "Dammit, Pinchy, we're gonna miss our trip out in Big G's boat tomorrow. Daddy'll never let you...
Former Governor of Idaho Candidate Arrested in 36-Year-Old Cold Case
Jonelle Matthews is finally going to receive justice. Jonelle Matthews. Photo source. Jonelle Matthews was a twelve-year-old girl who lived in Greeley, Colorado with her adoptive parents, Jim and Gloria Matthews and her older sister, Jennifer. Jim was a school principal and Gloria stayed at home with the children. The four visited church together as a family when they could. Jonelle’s birth mother Terri Vierra-Martinez was only thirteen when she gave birth to her.
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