Pagan Babies

A Short Story by Raymond Bial

Catholic meets country in this charming story set in a small town in southern Indiana. Anyone who remembers the Pagan Baby campaigns of the 1950s will get a kick out of this story. It’s funny, at times ironic, and full of insight. Written from the point of view of a wide-eyed youngster, the story follows the progress of the Pagan Baby drive through the school year. It focuses on two pupils, stoic Emmet Cooper and sprightly Poppy Brighton, who knock heads, and the all-too-memorable Sister Bernadine. “Kids say the darnest things,” Art Linkletter would say, and in this story, they do the darndest things, too, especially when adults become even more confounding.

Winner of the Illinois Times best fiction contest, Pagan Babies is now available for the first time in a finely-designed digital edition. It’s short, but a gem of a story that will enjoy a warm and welcome place in your e-book collection.