She never liked it when the sand was messy, preferring to find an unfrequented patch of shore, where the only footprints were those of seagulls. Yet he would insist on plunging into the beach with both hands, digging and gouging like a wayward child seeking China. What was worse were the artless structures he would erect, piled high and higher still, leaning this way and that – ugly but fragile – begging to be slammed to the ground, and then pummeled into the beach, where they towered like sentinels. He was helped in this by the waves, as he would build always at the water’s edge, taunting the sea to reclaim his monoliths – or perhaps he meant them as an offering.…
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13 Ways is an on ongoing creative project that was launched in 2011, by td Whittle and Sandra Peterson Ramirez. The central theme of the series is a simple one: the stories have been inspired by the photos which accompany them, and they provide an imagined context for – or a particular interpretation of – those photos. Some of the tales are brief vignettes, while others are more fully-developed narratives. The literary styles and subjects vary enormously from story to story, invoking realism, suspense, fantasy, and modern Gothic. Here’s how to access the 13 Ways stories: To read the stories that are available here on our site, click on the first link under Categories on our sidebar. To read our first published collection, featuring sixteen tales from our 13 Ways series,…