H N Arabian Blog - Random Tales

  *** “The Smoking Trunk” is a humorous yet tender family travel essay that transforms a minor mishap into a meditation on memory, imperfection, and connection. Through a wry narrative voice and sharply observed domestic comedy, the story illustrates how ordinary travel frustrations become the raw material of lasting family lore. ***   The Smoking Trunk By Harry Arabian After a week exploring Washington, D.C., our family had achieved peak tourist status. We’d seen the pandas at the National Zoo, taken the Capitol tour, and spent enough time in Smithsonian gift shops to earn honorary degrees in “Souvenir Studies.” The boys—both teenagers—declared the Air and Space Museums “the coolest places on Earth.” My wife declared the hotel laundry room “the most useful.” Packing to leave should have been easy. It wasn’t. Somewhere between our arrival and departure, our luggage had multiplied. The rental car trunk, once roomy and accommodating, now looked like it had shrunk in the D.C. h...

  *** The “forgotten passenger” is a reminder that absence is not always loss—it may instead create space for independence, joy, and balance within family life. *** 🎄 The Forgotten Passenger By Harry Arabian The Saturday after Thanksgiving always felt like the real start of Christmas. Thanksgiving was for turkey and family stories, but Saturday? Saturday was for deals, discounts, and the unofficial holiday tradition of early shopping —at least, that’s how my parents saw it. At seventy, my mother and father still approached this day as if they were veterans gearing up for battle. They left early in the morning, bundled up in coats, hats, and gloves, armed with shopping lists and coupon booklets. They taped a note in the middle of the bathroom mirror before leaving: “Pick us up at 1 p.m. – Downtown Crossing.” It was written in my father’s blocky script, circled twice for emphasis. Subtlety wasn’t his style. At 11 a.m., I noticed the note while brushing my teeth. “Al...

  *** "Embers of Cinnamon and Light " is a quietly evocative narrative that explores themes of displacement, resilience, and the restorative power of small human gestures. The story follows a protagonist whose ordered life in Boston is disrupted by the sale of his company and the subsequent relocation to New York, creating both physical and emotional upheaval. Through this lens, the narrative examines how personal ritual and human connection anchor identity amidst change. ***   Embers of Cinnamon and Light By Harry Arabian On a September morning in Boston, I followed a routine that had long structured my daily life. I prepared oatmeal, fruit, a boiled egg, and coffee before leaving for work at the Electronic Laboratory. This pattern, although ordinary, provided a sense of stability. Upon arriving at the office, however, I encountered an unusual silence. A message on the whiteboard announced an urgent company meeting. At that meeting, the president, John, informed us that a...

   *** " Wrong Exit, Right Moment” is a short story that delicately intertwines themes of serendipity, memory, and the spiritual beauty found in human connection and landscape. Set against the reflective backdrop of Wayfarers Chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, the narrative uses a simple chance encounter to explore deeper ideas of destiny, reconnection, and the architecture of experience—both literal and emotional ***  Wrong Exit, Right Moment By Harry Arabian On a warm Sunday afternoon, my wife and I took a drive up the coast from Irvine to Rancho Palos Verdes, drawn by a shared fascination with Frank Lloyd Wright's legacy—not only his angular genius in architecture, but also the way his vision shaped landscapes into something almost spiritual. Our destination was Wayfarers Chapel, a glass sanctuary tucked into the bluffs overlooking the Pacific, designed by Wright’s son, Lloyd Wright. It was said to hum with light and music, cradled in redwoods and ocean br...

*** Herald’s letter to Jennie in "The Left Wall" offers more than just an explanation for a move; it is a quiet meditation on memory, space, and the emotional weight of shared history. Through this intimate monologue, the story explores the themes of change, nostalgia, communication in relationships, and the human need to preserve moments of love and connection. ***    The Left Wall By Harry Arabian Dear Jennie, I know you loved living in that cozy studio by the creek. The morning light streaming through the kitchen window, the way the leaves would dance across the sill in autumn, and of course, that one long wall on the left where our memories lived. I remember how carefully you placed those frames—photos of us grinning on our first date, that awkward but sweet shot of us holding hands outside the coffee shop, and the Sunday morning brunch when we met each other’s families for the first time. That wall told our story. Remember Yosemite? We climbed Half Dome, an...

*** “Kings of the Mystery Dock” is a vibrant, nostalgic vignette that captures the essence of childhood friendship and adventure against a backdrop of sun-soaked Southern California. With warmth and humor, the narrator recounts a formative memory, subtly highlighting the imaginative world of children and their yearning for freedom, pride, and belonging *** Kings of the Mystery Dock By Harry Arabian It was one of those cloudless Southern California mornings where even the breeze smelled like salt and summer. I was waiting with my bike at the corner of San Onofre Street and Basilone Road, just a few blocks from the beach. The crossing signal blinked red, so I stood there, straddling my bike, watching surfers with boards tied to their car roofs drive past. That’s when I spotted Paul. He was wobbling down the sidewalk on his old blue Schwinn, a fishing pole sticking out like a jousting lance, and three big sea bass flopping against the handlebars in a tangled string. The fish w...

  *** "Return to Antelias" is a short, introspective narrative that explores themes of memory, disconnection, aging, and emotional restraint through the lens of a man revisiting his childhood home in Lebanon. The story employs a minimalist style, quiet humor, and understated tension to reveal the complex emotions that accompany nostalgia and the passage of time. *** Return to Antelias   By Harry Arabian  It was 6:30 on a calm Sunday evening, the kind that drifts slowly into night. Herald sat in his Boston living room, remote in hand, waiting for the news. His phone rang. Andy’s picture lit up the screen — he was grinning beneath a crooked party hat. “Hello, Andy,” Herald answered, cautious but curious. “Hi Herald, I’m glad you’re home. Got a question for you,” Andy said, voice buzzing with urgency. “Do you remember saying you’d like to join me on my next trip to Beirut?” Herald hesitated. He did remember — vaguely. Five years ago, at a class reunion in Glenda...

***   “Rain Delay” is a subtle, heartwarming slice-of-life story that captures the quiet power of familial love, the grace of small repairs—both mechanical and emotional—and the enduring lesson that showing up matters more than fixing everything. *** Rain Delay   By Harry Arabian  Rain was part of the Boston soundtrack—drumming rooftops, soaking sidewalks, and, like clockwork, choking the life out of my old Datsun hatchback. It was a relic from the late '70s, pale blue with rust freckles and a habit of playing dead whenever the clouds cried. In other words, it was the worst kind of car for someone who lived in a city where it rained four days a week. Sunday morning started in a drizzle, but by six it was a steady downpour. I was up early, as promised, to give my brother a ride to Logan Airport. He was heading back to Southern California after a week visiting our aging parents. It was his last rainy Sunday in Boston, and mine, apparently, was fated to include...

*** “The Last Supper Club” is a meditative, character-driven short story that explores themes of transition, community, identity, and quiet resilience in the face of professional upheaval. Set in the aftermath of a corporate shutdown, the story examines the emotional and philosophical impact of closure—not just of a company division, but of a chapter in a shared human endeavor *** The Last Supper Club By Harry Arabian   The last workday came not with urgency, but with a peculiar calm. Like the hush before a curtain call, the software team walked the halls with quiet reverence. There were no beeps, no whirrs—just the gentle footsteps of those who had built digital dreams from layers of abstraction, now drifting past vacant desks and screens gone dark. The lab, once a buzzing sanctuary of thought and trial, now felt like a museum of modern effort. Oscilloscopes, Logic Analyzers, Multimeters, Power Supplies—once blinking with code and humming with problem-solving—sat do...

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“The Winners’ Circle” is a quietly luminous short story that explores the endurance of friendship, the tender ironies of aging, and the unspoken poetry of daily ritual. Set against the golden calm of a Southern California spring, the narrative traces a single morning in the life of Herald, a retired man whose life has settled into the rhythms of nature and memory—until two unexpected phone calls stir up echoes from a long-past victory stand. ***  The Winners’ Circle By Harry Arabian  The morning began like any other—a sun-drenched spring day promising warmth and small miracles. As Herald stirred his apple cinnamon instant oats, the unmistakable blur of wings caught his eye through the kitchen window. A Rufous Hummingbird, radiant in its coppery-orange shimmer, hovered near the yellow Angel’s Trumpet flower that had just bloomed. It was the first sighting of the season—a signal it was time to hang the feeder. He smiled to himself. The ritual was simple: di...

***  “The Mindful Day: Sunlight, Soil, and Salad,” the author offers a gentle, beautifully textured meditation on intentional living. Framed by the structure of a lifestyle app promoting “Blue Zone” wellness principles, the story follows a single day in the life of a narrator who gradually rediscovers the richness of simplicity, connection, and self-awareness through small, deliberate acts. *** The Mindful Day: Sunlight, Soil, and Salad By Harry Arabian The sun peeked gently through the curtains, as if encouraging me to embrace the day with intention. I opened my Blue Zone App—the one that promised “an evidence-based solution for a better, happier, less-stressed life.” Today, I was committed—eight challenges queued up before noon. Challenge #1: A warm plant-based breakfast. Oatmeal with walnuts, banana slices, and a hint of cinnamon. Then small plates of fruits—juicy orange segments, crisp apple slices, and a handful of blueberries. Whole grains followed, folded into multig...