“It was on the hottest summer day,” Ralph tells Linda while he rakes leaves in the backyard.

“I remember sweating,” Linda says, holding a trash bag open. “Must’ve been in August.”

“Nope. July.” Ralph crams leaves and twigs into the bag.

“You sure? August is hot, too; it could’ve been then.”

“I remember watching the news that evening, and the weather girl with the Brazilian accent said it was the hottest July on record.” Ralph bends over to rake acorns from beneath the rhododendrons.

“I guess it doesn’t matter when the last time was,” says Linda; “the question is, do you want to have sex tonight?”

“Tonight?” Ralph gathers the acorns in his leather gloves and tosses them in the bag.

“Yes, tonight,” says Linda. “Lisa’s bringing the grandkids over tomorrow to stay the weekend.”

Ralph drops another pile into the bag. “Can we see how we feel later?” He returns to his rake. “We need to finish here and still have the front yard to do.”

“That’s fine,” she says, watching a cloud drift behind naked branches. “You sure it wasn’t August?”

“Positive,” he says over his shoulder. “It rained every day in August.”

She remembers the rain tapping the windows, Ralph complaining about the lawn, and then snoring in the recliner beside hers. “The marigolds thrived in their beds that month.”

“That they did,” Ralph agrees, dumping the last pile of debris into the bag.

Joshua Michael Stewart

is the author of four books, including Welcome Home, Russell Edson (Lulu, October 2024), a graphic novel and prose poem hybrid created in collaboration with illustrators Bret M. Herholz and Aaron J. Krolikowski; Love Something (Main Street Rag, 2022); The Bastard Children of Dharma Bums (Human Error Publishing, 2020); and Break Every String (Leveler’s Press, 2016).

His work has appeared in >Brilliant Corners, Cold Mountain Review, Louisville Review, Massachusetts Review, Modern Haiku, New Flash Fiction Review, and Rattle, among others, as well as in several anthologies: Best Small Fictions 2025; Compass Roads: Poems about the Pioneer Valley (Leveler’s Press, 2018); Contemporary Haibun 20 (Red Moon Press, 2025); Fantastic Imaginary Creatures: An Anthology of Contemporary Prose Poems (Madville Publishing, 2024); Nothing Short of 100 (2019); and The Wonder of Small Things: Poems of Peace and Renewal (2023).

Author’s website: https://joshuamichaelstewartauthor.com