Shorts: "On the Corner" by Ben Boulden
On the Corner by Ben Boulden * * * * JACK HAD SHOWN UP TWO YEARS AGO with a cardboard sign lettered in what had once been black marker, but had since faded to brown by Vermont’s harsh sun. The sign, in a shaky hand that slanted upwards from left to right, read: STRANDED! NEED AID! ANYTHING HELPS! The sign never changed in those two years Jack stood at the intersection of U.S. Routes 4 and 7, a bounce south of Rutland. His clothes never seemed to change, either. They were always clean, if a little ragged around the edges, and more than one motorist made a flippant remark that always sounded something like, “That lazy bastard dresses better than I do!” Of course, it wasn’t true. Jack dressed like a pauper but he was proud enough to keep his three ou...