P Squared Books

nature

Carnie Abe

Back in my college days, I worked as a river guide. Kelp Journal was lovely enough to publish my non-fiction essay chronicling a brief look at that time. Please go check it out. It'll be under Issue 11, Carnie Abe. Literary Adventure Journal | Kelp Journal | Pebble Beach, CaliforniaKelp

horror

The One-Armed Cowboy(s?)

I live in a rural town. Like most rural towns, it contains a Dollar General and a box auto parts store. They line the edge of the two lane highway. They share a sidewalk that runs before both stores before ending, some long gone city planner's attempt to

horror

The Mantle Of Responsibility

I ended up at a training in one of those states that begin with a cardinal direction. The training campus was reminiscent of Hogwarts or some Disney castle land, the campus rolling and beautiful. Big stone buildings nestled into a wooded area, complete with baby deer bounding up the paths.

cats

The Mattress

It came to my husband and my attentions that we had reached a point in our lives where it was time to buy a new mattress. Like most couples, we had varying opinions on how space should be allocated, but like anyone with a cat, our opinions were not factored

food

The Turkey Hunt

My husband went spring turkey hunting and bagged a turkey. The photo above is the pozole he made with it. It was tasty. Where we live, spring turkey hunting requires a tag, and once he'd filed his, I thought, sure I'll go try it out. And

food

Laramie...

When I was a kid, I always wanted a July birthday. My brother had a July birthday, and he got pool parties, which is what I wanted. I was not born in July though, I was born in the doldrums of winter, also known as prime hockey tournament season. Youth

relationships

Sales Pitches

I got voluntold to be on a committee at work. And then I had to find an alternate for the committee. So, I emailed the person I thought would most likely say yes. My email went as such: Hey... I am apparently going to be the rep on this committee.

books

The Crime Scene

You could say my husband and I are in a reel-ationship. He didn't want to be, but eventually, he was worn down by my constant meme sending on Instagram. "You are poisoning my feed with cat videos," he told me after I'd sent him

nature

Dimes v. Biceps

Back in my river guide days, I was the different one. I was five five, female, and one hundred and twenty-five pounds soaking wet, which was pretty common while I was training. Learning how to pilot rafts involved a lot of falling into the water, hiking boots, work pants and

nature

Halcyon Days

In college, I was a river guide in Grand Teton National Park. I worked three summers guiding boats, and with the exception of a few months, I was the only woman on our crew. It was an extremely physical job, and I learned a lot about a lot of things.

cats

Paradise Found

Every year for the past few years, a group of us get together to go bird hunting in North Dakota. My husband found a pretty good short term rental on some farm land. It has a kitchen, sweeping views, and this past year, cats. We showed up and there were

books

Reading Patterns

I read a lot. Not like I've got a super famous BookTok feed or anything like that, but last year I read about ninety books. I loved Mexican Gothic. Historic, etherial horror involving a female protagonist, a weird mansion and sentient fungi, I mean what's not

Definitions are Subjective

Like any good Millennial, I watch TikTok videos on Instagram long after they are cool. By virtue of this, I saw a video where a couple went on a date to Target and bought presents for each other. They set a price range and had categories for present purchasing. For

art

The Grocery Store

There are two kinds of people. Multitaskers and those that cannot multitask. It turns out, I am married to a man who despises multitasking, while I love multitasking. This is always exemplified when we go to the grocery store together. I'm the kind of person who will say

houses

Saturday Night

One Saturday night, my husband and I ended up at Lowe's. Not randomly; we had been trying to get there since the afternoon, but it wasn't until eight pm that we walked through the doors. Unlike the daylight hours, the place was nearly empty, except for

beach

Two Can Play This Game

There was a time when I worked on a Hawaiian island. I loved it, but the job I had wasn't a year-around job. I went to the island on one job appointment, and when that one finished another job opened up, but there was a gap between the

books

The Book Club Meeting

I've been a part of various book clubs throughout my adult life. Some have been composed of close friends, some I've been the friend of the friend invite, and one, which I joined right out of undergrad, was a Meetup Book Club. I was twenty-two or

Overheard in on a Winter's Day in Joshua Tree

Woman: "It's crazy here." Ranger: "Oh?" Woman: "You know Jesus and Joshua are the same name?" Ranger: "Oh?" Woman: "So it's just crazy that this place is called Joshua Tree." Ranger: "Well the Mormons named

history

Childhood Fears

As previous mentioned, I have a deep-seated fear of botulism. I figured this came from my habit of reading about ill-fated, polar exploration ventures. It was a risky thing, to get on a ship and try to find the Northwest passage, or to get on a ship and then try

travel

BOI-C

I recently went on a work trip to Boise, Idaho. I thought I knew about Idaho. I had been to Twin Falls, Rexburg, Pocotello, Idaho Falls, those kinds of places. I assumed Boise would be the same. It was not. What I found was a very vibrant downtown area. The

desert

The Patriarchy

My husband and I were invited to a friend's for a dinner. We were asked to bring something to share, and my husband decided he wanted to make some venison shoulder, and I decided I wanted to make a lemon torte. Well the day of the event arrived,

horror

Malls

There is something deeply unsettling about the American mall. When I was a child, I remember going to the mall with my mom to get new school clothes. My brother and I hated to be dragged there, but the whole expedition was for us. My mom quickly realized that we

history

Fourteen Hour Road Trip

Recently, my husband and I did a fourteen hour drive in a single day. Two of the states included on this drive were Wyoming and North Dakota. For this trip, my husband selected one of his typical outfits, flip flops, faded pink shorts, a green T-shirt and a bright orange

food

Safety... You Wouldn't Understand

I once worked at this place that was in this soul sucking building. It was colorless, characterless, cheaply made, and generally chitty (sorry, I couldn't stop the alteration). Anyway, when I first got there, it was a bit of a shock to the system. I was learning a

desert

More Man

Once I started work at a new place, and I was in that new job fog where I was learning a lot and entirely behind on what needed to get done. I was tired. I had finally made it to the end of the day, and I stepped outside to