It was the summer of '82, my first year at Saint Vincent's. I'd just arrived in the city, a newly minted nurse from the Midwest, and taken an apartment on Perry Street with three other nurses. He was ... [+]
Trespassing—a Criminal Offense
"Trespassing—a Criminal Offense" was selected Juried Winner of short fiction in Short Edition's America: color it in Contest, summer 2020. Mark Budman is a first-generation immigrant to the US. His fiction has appeared in Catapult, Witness, World Literature Today, Mississippi Review, The London Magazine (UK), McSweeney’s, and elsewhere. He is the author of the novel “My Life at First Try,” published by Counterpoint. Visit http://markbudman.com
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Italian
The dryad who lives inside the oak tree has been terrorizing the condo building dwellers for generations. She throws acorns and pours sap and drops pollen on their cars, and causes severe allergies in people. She used to be a condo dweller herself, at the time when condos were a rarity, and most houses in the city were privately owned. Her clothing is in tatters now, save for an oilcloth raincoat, and for her drawers, silky like her skin. They survived because of her modesty, though no one sees her except for squirrels, and, only once, a woodpecker.But today she comes out, first time in many y