Written during a four-week residency at the I-Park Foundation in East Haddam, Connecticut, “Arena” charts the first moments of meeting between two men in an island prison, neither quite knowing his past connection to the other.

Here is a short excerpt from the story:

High above the concrete box of the prison, seagulls turn lazily in the sky, wings outstretched and gliding. Only their gun-turret heads are at work, looking here and then looking here, seeking any scrap to eat for which they will not have to work. The light of the sun paints the whole sky white and in some places, the water shines pure and white as well. As if ocean and sky have become the same thing. An island afloat in flawless white. These are things the boy saw before being led into prison. They’re things the old man has forgotten.

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