To My Readers -- a virtual cup of coffee

All of us have excellent stories to tell.

The shortest story I've ever been told: "I was going to do my banking today. So I went to the bank, and it's on fire." 

The short story best relying on imagination: "Remember when there was a bounty on coyotes in Missouri? My mom hit one and threw it in the trunk to take to the sheriff. Too bad it wasn't dead." 

The best short story I played a role in: "I had a dream last night we were all late for the bank robbery. That was alright, though, because we were all zombies."

I collect other people's stories -- the one about a friend playing war games in a park, who runs into some woods to take a leak at the edge of a cliff, only to look down and find himself exposed above a two-lane highway. The one about the hunter attacked by a rabid deer and the one about the woman who shot a deer while sitting on the toilet. My grandmother Iverson's malapropisms and my great-great grandmother who could stop bleeding by the laying on of hands. Silly and clever and maladroit and mournful -- I hold stories for people. And holding stories makes me happier than almost anything (except coffee).

I know all of you have stories of all kinds. I would love to sit with each and every one of you (assuming none of you are slashers or stalkers) over a cup of coffee (or beverage of your choice) and find out who you are from your stories. 

I know this vision is against all the rules of the Internet, where we all read each others' Facebook posts without remarking, and half the posts are reposts anyhow. 

So, again, I'd like to hear your comments, and more importantly, hear your stories. (We'll have to imagine the coffee.)

Here's to you, readers!