Second Saturday Stories takes a break from the Caulderwilde Chronicles this week to feature a piece of writing from William Krueger. William is familiar name to fans of the column and he's brought some great historical fiction in the past with his sinking of the John B Fraser in Sloop John B and Helpless; another great read pitting aliens against a train full of spectators.
This week William's story (titled Johnny, Fill Up The Bowl) is an emotionally moving piece with ties to North Bay history readers will remember fondly. Flipping between timelines the story juxtaposes a local stock car racer's last ride with his deployment into war torn Bosnia.
The story plays the high octane pace of a Sunday at the speedway in time with the grimness of armed combat in a way that is as haunting as it is beautiful. You will feel that lazy evening sun warming your skin while smelling the gun powder.
This is your excuse to get your chores out of the way so you can have the coffee on by 3pm. No thermos required for this drive down memory lane.
Take a few minutes for this thought provoking read, you'll appreciate it.
