(This is an excerpt—click on the title to view the whole piece!)
 

ISO Paris in a New Orleans Afternoon

Inside the café, the large familiar drawing of a parrot met my eye. I liked to imagine the drawing depicted Loulou, Felicite's parrot in Flaubert's "A Simple Heart." I had once glimpsed an impossibly handsome Sam Shepherd sitting beneath it, smoking a cigarette. I'd stared. I hadn't been able to help myself. Now, his seat was vacant. In fact, there were only a few people inside. They milled about the counter, fiddling with sugar and spoons.

Melissa Phipps