I was sitting at my iMac, writing this week's story and getting nowhere, when suddenly, I heard what sounded like stomping in the room above me.

Claire! I said to myself. What the heck are you doing up there? I know you've put on a few pounds, but do you have to stomp so loud?

A few minutes later, my wife said there could have been a magnetic disruption in the earth because an earthquake had just hit New Jersey. When I told her I thought it was her shaking the house, I thought she was about to slap me!

Story Copyright © 2024 by Michael DeFrancesco

Illustration: CSEM/EMSC