The thick ripples of water, becalmed as the ship came to dock, appeared to Helen like deep lines on the face of the earth making rivulets with the salty tears of the lonely. – from “Molly on the Ferry”

It’s time for another installment of #SundayStories where you can learn about the inspiration behind one of the stories from my new collection, When We Come Back.

This week we go behind the scenes of “Molly on the Ferry.” This was a story I kept coming back to over the years until I got it right. The idea first came to me during a trip on the Cape May-Lewes Ferry. For those who haven’t taken it, it’s a long, boring ride. I overheard the person working the snack bar on the main deck tell a customer that they were a teacher who worked on the ferry during the summer. I couldn’t help but think about what types of things might spice up a monotonous job serving snacks while going endlessly back and forth between Cape May and Lewes every few hours. This birthed the character of Helen, the retired teacher who worked the snack bar on the ferry. Around the same time, the Fukushima nuclear disaster happened in Japan, and in walked the mysterious character of “Alias Joe.”

You’ll have to read the story to find out how their paths cross, and who Molly is.

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