Jack Harrell

A Sense of Order and Other Stories Jack Harrell

The author asks a big question: Who is responsible? One person in need of this information is Lon, who wonders why his marriage is falling apart. Lon thought his wife would re-initiate intimacy at some point. She doesn t, and he sets out to find the man he thinks stands between them but only finds an apparition and he still can t fix his marriage.
In another story, the LDS prophet is drawn to s simpler time when he could wander out unnoticed and buy a candy bar. Church Security won t let him outside on his own and Public Relations won t let him wear anything but a suit and tie. Still, the impulse to be a regular guy for an afternoon is compelling. Can t he make his own decisions? He can, but what are the consequences?
And then there s Jerry, who passes three men in suits who are talking and laughing at the loading dock behind an LDS temple. One of them looks up, drops a cigarette and crushes it, then slips into a nearby car. Another man someone who has made Jerry s life miserable taunts him, saying: Jerry, your goodness is your enemy and tell all your friends. Who is responsible? Maybe it s the author s reverie that s to blame, but his stories have a way of getting deep inside the psyche and haunting us."