COVER Sue Parkinson A NAIL IN MY SHOE 3 Sergio Perkins REFRACTION 9 Kristin Jensen ART 10 Christine Nelson ORTHODOX 11 Tom Clark ART 16 Sue Parkinson CRIMPSON SHADOWS 17 Sergio Perkins THE HERO 18 Ilda Easterling ART 24 Linda Price DONNY 25 Larry Peer GEOMETRY 29 Noel Whittaker VII 30 Francis Hall INTELLECTUAL ANODYNE 36 Larry Peer A NAIL IN MY SHOE Sergio Perkins Mr. Ethon, as the owner of the boarding house called him, had been selling ladies shoes for eight years. He had been assistant manager for two. Mr. Ethon pampered a slight mustach, which no one seemed to notice. This friday morning he felt extremely daring. The mustach had seemed an unnecessary part in the composition of his face. He shaved it off. At breakfast, a moth, as if guided by an invisible hand, made a sure dive into his milk just as he started to reach for it. Mr. Ethon did not drink his milk and remarkably the event failed to irritate him. He excused himself and after getting up from his chair he complimented Mrs. Mosinger on her stupendous cooking. He saw her look at him and thank him. To himself he thought either she had not noticed as the others apparently hadn't or all of them refused to comment at seeing his mustach no longer lined his upper lip. Walking down to the store the air felt cool on his naked face and he could not help feeling he had forgotten something. He was early and stopped at the corner drug store for coffee. This particular segment of town had grown accustomed to him. He was one of the regular faces one might spot around this section of the business district, one of the regular faces the waitresses saw during lunch hour, one of the regular faces all the rest of the regular faces of the block noticed day after day. While having his coffee he answered to a multitude of good mornings. Nobody mentioned the mustach. 3