Stuart Dybek is the author of the flash fiction collection, Ecstatic Cahoots: Fifty Short Stories, as well as seven other books of fiction and poetry, including The Coast of Chicago. His work has received numerous awards. He is currently the Distinguished Writer in Residence at Northwestern University.
In summer, waiting for night, we’d pose against the afterglow on corners, watching traffic cruise through the neighborhood. Sometimes, a car would go by without its headlights on and we’d all yell, “Lights!” “Lights!”...