Michael Cooney
When we chose to take separate trails from
the parking lot past the palm trees down to
our familiar beach, we were very surprised to
discover that the different bodies of water each
of us found, full of dolphins and pelicans and
sting rays and jellyfish, were joined by a brand-new
and brightly painted sidewalk through the sand.
This seemed odd to me because I did not think
that either of us knew how to die.

MICHAEL COONEY has taught in high schools and community colleges in New York City and is currently a facilitator with the New York Writers Coalition. His short stories and poetry have appeared in Sundial, Bandit Fiction, Badlands, Bitter Oleander, Second Chance Lit, and other journals, and his novella, “The Witch Girl & The Wobbly,” was published by Running Wild Press in 2021.