Simon selected the needle nose pliers for reasons obvious to him. The pliers were more industrial, unlike his dental tools designed for specific applications. The pliers were easier to grip with the rubber handles and fit comfortably in his hand. Crude but highly effective, needle nose pliers served his objective without regard for a certain technique or developed skill required...

Stu typed on his laptop behind a wobbly wooden desk positioned away from the window in his room to avoid the distraction from windblown trees and their bounty of autumn foliage exploding with vibrant orange, red, and yellow hues. Spurred by his aggressive first draft deadline, he reviewed the notes he’d compiled during previous conversations with Simon. A prolific author...

Stu woke up with his phone beeping loudly and stretched across the hotel mattress to feel the empty space beside him. Impeded by restless sleep, he slogged through his morning routine and snagged a caffè americano with a bagel and cream cheese from the breakfast shop downstairs. Outside the five-star accommodations a block from Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, he greeted the...

Simon Robert Hollis walked out of the United States Penitentiary, Thomson, on One Mile Road in Carroll County, Illinois wearing prison-issue duds with forty dollars in gate money and his personal possessions in a sack lunch bag. Greeted by a cold October breeze through his shaggy brown hair and long sideburns that extended down his rugged jawline, he shunned the...