The Art of Love (& Loathing):
A Novel
All that Arthur Kimble wants is for life to return to the way it was, but as a pill-popping alcoholic reluctantly fighting addiction, the nostalgic ex-husband of an unwanted marriage, and the close friend to a quick-witted imaginary pigeon, the odds aren’t exactly in his favor…
Short Stories: May’24
“The Most Beautiful Thing”
Through the window of a diner, the sunlight was not a stream but a submersion, where, in a time far removed from the present, patrons soaked up the warmth and light. Comforting as it could have been, for Frida it was simply the familiar precursor to a half-baked afternoon. This was the feeling before the work began. Heat on the skin. Bright in the eyes. Smoke in the lungs as she leaned against the old gray pickup. That truck was wearing out, but something about the sight of it sitting in the dusty old desert gave her a fantastic chill.
“There you are,” said Davis as he swung the door open and stepped hurriedly outside, a toothpick sticking out from between his teeth. “I been lookin’ all around for you. Didn’t you hear me callin’? I just about thought you left me.”
“Thought about it.”
“Look,” he began, then paused. “I think we should talk about—”
“I don’t want to talk. About anything.”
“But what happened—”
“I said I don’t want to talk,” she insisted. Frida looked out at the lowering ball of fire setting off explosions of mirages across the endless miles of rocks, sand, and brush. She took a long drag of her last cigarette before offering it. “I’m just tired, Davis. I’m just really fucking tired.”
About
Stephen Daniel Ruiz is an American writer, author of The Art of Love (& Loathing) as well as dozens of short stories, poems, and one stage play. These works span subjects from addiction, relationships, parenthood, and mental illness to questions of philosophy, moral dilemmas, and ethicality.
Growing up, Stephen Daniel Ruiz began writing prose and poetry at a young age, finding it be an emotional outlet of escape. Even as an adult, his overseas service in the U.S. Marine Corps did not diminish his love of writing. After his return to civilian life and the birth of his fourth child, he refocused his lifelong passions and dedicated his energy to perfecting his skills as a writer, spending almost five years to complete his first novel.
