Standing on the Edge of Some Crazy Cliff
By Terence Patrick Hughes
About the Work
Standing on the Edge of Some Crazy Cliff opens with a deceptively ordinary school committee meeting — a place where nothing dramatic is ever supposed to happen. But Hughes pulls the thread on small-town politics with that sharp observational instinct of his, exposing the fragile egos, quiet grievances, and long-simmering tensions that sit beneath fluorescent lights and folding chairs.
The story follows Mazel Hubbard, an older resident who arrives unannounced and unsettles the room in ways the committee never anticipates. As the meeting spirals, Hughes shows how quickly order gives way to absurdity, revealing what happens when people who believe they hold power suddenly feel it slipping.
It’s a story about civic theater, the loneliness inside public life, and the strange, electric moment when one person dares to speak aloud what everyone else hoped to avoid.
Publication History
Published in: Portrait of New England, Volume 3 (Summer 2023)
PDF: https://portraitne.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/pone-volume-3_summer-2023.pdf
Year: 2023
Excerpt
IT ALL BEGAN WHEN MAZEL HUBBARD showed up at town hall for a school committee meeting. At first, it was to no one’s particular care or interest, she was just one of a half-dozen townsfolk spread across the ill-arranged metal folding chairs that sat before, but not near the two long, time-worn tables at which were seated the committee’s chairman and his cohorts.
Critical Notes
Hughes finds humor and heartbreak at the municipal margins — a masterfully observed slice of small-town theater where every gesture carries weight.
— Portrait of New England Reader Response
Related Works
If you enjoyed Standing on the Edge of Some Crazy Cliff, you may also like:
As The Night The Day (rural tension + moral pressure)
Tom Tucker’s Dead Body (community vibe + simmering unease)
Inquiries
For reprints or rights: admin@terencepatrickhughes.com
Image generated using AI, art-directed to reflect the atmosphere of Standing on the Edge of Some Crazy Cliff.