https://feliciacarparelli.com/stories/ Author, Writer, Storyteller en-US https://feliciacarparelli.com/2026/02/03/brushstrokes/ https://feliciacarparelli.com/2026/02/03/brushstrokes/ Tue, 03 Feb 2026 12:00:00 GMT On the eve of the wedding, Milly brushed Alicia’s hair. One hundred strokes. She counted aloud, in a low voice, more a hiss than a whisper. Her daughter sat stone still, wrapped in an… https://feliciacarparelli.com/2024/08/27/the-book-of-john-2/ https://feliciacarparelli.com/2024/08/27/the-book-of-john-2/ Tue, 27 Aug 2024 12:00:00 GMT I am a prophet on a mission. I awoke to that revelation after a night of prayer and meditation. Like the dude on the road to Damascus, I was struck down in my single… https://feliciacarparelli.com/2024/08/13/keeper-of-the-vortex/ https://feliciacarparelli.com/2024/08/13/keeper-of-the-vortex/ Tue, 13 Aug 2024 12:00:00 GMT Agatha tended the Vortex. It was her punishment for not obeying the Prefect of the Labyrinth, from where all life was sustained. There were rules to follow, laws older than time, although there was… https://feliciacarparelli.com/2024/05/31/arachne/ https://feliciacarparelli.com/2024/05/31/arachne/ Fri, 31 May 2024 12:00:00 GMT If everyone has a color, then my color is black. When I was born, I emerged out of the womb with spirals of ebony hair, surrounding a dark, angry face. My coal black eyes… https://feliciacarparelli.com/2024/05/03/student-success-letters/ https://feliciacarparelli.com/2024/05/03/student-success-letters/ Fri, 03 May 2024 12:00:00 GMT I’ve been writing for forty years. I’ve skipped around many genres—mystery, romance, thriller, young adult, middle grade, poems (I discovered I do not have the soul of a poet)… https://feliciacarparelli.com/2023/05/10/tiny-love-stories-crying-in-the-driveway/ https://feliciacarparelli.com/2023/05/10/tiny-love-stories-crying-in-the-driveway/ Wed, 10 May 2023 12:00:00 GMT Our children met while teaching in Germany. His son is British; my daughter is American. He and I are both single parents, retired teachers and cheeky devils. Our children fell in love, got pregnant… https://feliciacarparelli.com/2022/04/25/waiting-for-the-oncologist-amid-covid-19/ https://feliciacarparelli.com/2022/04/25/waiting-for-the-oncologist-amid-covid-19/ Mon, 25 Apr 2022 12:00:00 GMT It's been 18 months since I finished chemo for breast cancer, 15 months since I finished radiation at this writing. My hair grew back a year ago. The tingling in my fingers is gone… https://feliciacarparelli.com/2022/04/25/traveling-amid-the-covid-19-pandemic-as-a-cancer-survivor/ https://feliciacarparelli.com/2022/04/25/traveling-amid-the-covid-19-pandemic-as-a-cancer-survivor/ Mon, 25 Apr 2022 12:00:00 GMT My daughter recently had a beautiful baby girl in Frankfurt, Germany. From Chicago, that’s about 4,300 miles, as the jet flies. I would love to jump on a plane and travel over there immediately… https://feliciacarparelli.com/2022/04/25/the-roulette-wheel-of-cancer-medication-why-i-stopped-playing/ https://feliciacarparelli.com/2022/04/25/the-roulette-wheel-of-cancer-medication-why-i-stopped-playing/ Mon, 25 Apr 2022 12:00:00 GMT I have never been a person to take a lot of pills. I have been lucky that I don't need much medicine to get through my day. I am a doctor's nightmare because I… https://feliciacarparelli.com/2022/04/25/losing-my-hair-and-finding-myself/ https://feliciacarparelli.com/2022/04/25/losing-my-hair-and-finding-myself/ Mon, 25 Apr 2022 12:00:00 GMT Kermit the Frog used to sing, “It’s not easy bein’ green.” I’d like to amend that to say, “It’s not easy bein’ bald.” Losing my hair after chemotherapy for breast cancer was a real… https://feliciacarparelli.com/2022/04/25/imperfection-after-breast-cancer/ https://feliciacarparelli.com/2022/04/25/imperfection-after-breast-cancer/ Mon, 25 Apr 2022 12:00:00 GMT When you are missing part of your chest, you must make concessions. Accommodations. Symmetry is beauty, they tell us. Lopsided good for bunny ears, not for breasts. Picasso bosom, the new norm? One high… https://feliciacarparelli.com/2022/04/25/discussions-with-my-body/ https://feliciacarparelli.com/2022/04/25/discussions-with-my-body/ Mon, 25 Apr 2022 12:00:00 GMT Dear Tumor, When I discovered you were living in my breast two years ago, I thought you were a cyst. I thought about you, talked to you and then dismissed you. Please forgive me… https://feliciacarparelli.com/2022/04/25/dance-like-no-one-is-watching/ https://feliciacarparelli.com/2022/04/25/dance-like-no-one-is-watching/ Mon, 25 Apr 2022 12:00:00 GMT I am not a slug. In my Walter Mitty fantasy life, I am a Gwen Verdon Lola, sleek, supple and luscious. One of the few good things to have come out of the stay… https://feliciacarparelli.com/2021/10/25/what-i-lost-and-what-i-found/ https://feliciacarparelli.com/2021/10/25/what-i-lost-and-what-i-found/ Mon, 25 Oct 2021 12:00:00 GMT The day I had surgery for breast cancer was the longest day of my life. It was September 2018, and it was the first time I’d been in the hospital since I gave birth…