When my sister returned from her study abroad trip in the summer of 2017, she brought me a piece of green sea glass and told me that it was from Omaha Beach in Normandy where the infamous invasion by the allied forces took place. She described the sinister stillness of the area and its poignant contrast to the beach’s bloody history, buried after so many decades within its sands and dunes. She told me of the overwhelming austerity, and if she hadn’t known what happened there, it would be just like any other beach in the world. As with all former battlegrounds, the years brush over them and just like a fresh palate, they return to their quiet state of natural antiquity. I always wonder if the unaware visitor would sense any sort of uneasiness or restlessness in places like that, ignorant of history. When she was finished, she placed that piece of sea glass in my palm, looked up at me and said, “sea glass from Normandy.” 

That small piece of glass held more than just color and salt and it told a thousand stories with the blood of a generation. Maybe it was the piece of a bottle that someone drank from to pacify the horrors and hauntings of that era? Perhaps it was under a soldier’s boot as he ran up or down the beach while under the metal rain of bullets and siege of bombs? Whatever the story was, I knew that it was not limited to one. I held it for awhile and then put it in a Ziplock bag, and with a Sharpie wrote “Sea Glass From Normandy.”

I was always intrigued by the first person narrative because the writer places the reader directly into the mind of the protagonist. Third person narration is beautiful and elegant, but the ruggedness and honesty of the first person is much more fun to write. A good writer or artist makes constant observations. They become the life blood of the content, and the initial inspiration that puts pen to paper. I took a great deal of observations over the years and compiled them into this work. My aim was to write a story exhibiting lively prose and a controlled stream of consciousness. Some characters are very exaggerated for the sake of fiction, but of those depictions that my reader will run into are based on real people. The pressing challenge of writing in this form is the lingering threat of sloppiness, similar to driving through a snow storm in a front-wheel drive car. 

Charlie’s Trip To New York is a psychological story that deals with elements of the supernatural world and how our perceptions can often lead to elaborate fantasies. The protagonist, Charlie Bankfled, is an ambitious thirty two year old living in the countryside with his beloved girlfriend Victoria Dunberry.  The two are beginning to have relationship problems stemming from Charlie’s sudden desire to move back into New York City. Victoria Dunberry, who was initially reluctant to leave New York, has now fallen in love with the pleasantries of the countryside and tries to convince Charlie that they are better off staying where they are. The issue becomes a point of great contention until one day Charlie is met with a strange, handwritten letter that arrives by mail, inviting him to interview in New York City for a job at the “illustrious" firm Patterson and Patterson. 

In Charlie’s excitement, he begins obsessing over the prospect and for the ensuing days leading up to his interview, he talks of nothing but Patterson and Patterson. A concerned Victoria Dunberry begins to grow skeptical of Charlie’s new preoccupation and tries to look up any information she can find about the firm. To her great surprise, she cannot find a single trace anywhere of Patterson and Patterson.