The Man in the Parallel Universe

“The man in the parallel universe loves me. He’s tall and grey-haired and handsome still and looks just like Murtagh, but he’s not like him at all. He makes different decisions and chooses different things. And he doesn’t have Murtagh’s dilated eyes.”

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The October 2016 edition of Long Story, Short Journal is by award winning Irish writer Dolores Walshe. 'The Man in the Parallel Universe' is a portrait of a wife of a Vietnam veteran, who is soon to be a widow, but grieving a man she lost long ago. This tale is not only an exploration of grief, but of survival, and the moments of compassion that sustain us. READ 'THE MAN IN THE PARALLEL UNIVERSE'.

Snapshots by Eileen Keane

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Photo © Linda Raymond

"I feel disengaged from my life, as if it is a series of stills from a film, or moments captured in images that I offer to the earth. I spread them out there and examine them and rearrange them as if by doing so I might somehow find answers. The older ones seem faded and when I look at them it’s as if my head fills with noise, but when I focus on the ones that link to this place, the din fades and the mellifluous sound of the clarinet takes its place."

Long Story, Short Journal's July 2015 edition is a unique tale from Hennessy-award winning writer Eileen Keane. 'Snapshots' examines tensions that affinity for one's 'home-place' can create in a relationship, while offering 'snapshot' portraits of the endurance and strength that can be drawn from love.  CLICK HERE TO READ 'Snapshots'.