Can you read a topographic map? I can’t. But I found myself at what had to be Southeast Corner Spring: mouth of a pipe, curved sheets of galvanized metal, hooves imprinted in the mud. Painted Canyon and the Visitor Center must be just over that ridge, or the next, or the next.
Jeffrey Thompson was raised in Fargo, North Dakota, and educated at the University of Iowa and Cornell Law School. He lives in Phoenix, where he practices public interest law. His work has appeared in North Dakota Quarterly, The Main Street Rag, Hole in the Head Review, The Tusculum Review, ONE ART, Maudlin House, and New World Writing. His hobbies include reading, hiking, and photography.
