Chuck Cascio

The Fire Escape Stories Chuck Cascio

Where does a fire escape lead? Can it really save lives? Is it, in fact, a way out of danger? These questions are at the heart of the 17 episodes in The Fire Escape Stories, Volume II, a coming-of-age collection set in the early 1960s that builds upon the nine tales in The Fire Escape Stories, Volume I, which are set in the 1950s. In Volume I, cousins Sally-Boy Boccanera and Mike Burns, are born one-minute apart on the same day in the same Brooklyn Hospital in 1948. The fire escape is the safe shared space where the two youths talk, play, and try to understand the world that is emerging. In Volume II, the fire escape transforms into a different space. It is where teenagers Sally-Boy and Mike share stolen beers, swap stories, take girls, and confront one another. In Volume II, life starts to change significantly for the boys. Decisions become more difficult and potentially serious consequences loom over every choice. Though the fire escape remains a sanctuary of sorts, as the boys grow and their paths threaten to diverge, the question begins to loom: Can the fire escape provide all the safety and answers they need? Slowly, the boys see distinctly different worlds emerging. Sometimes together, and at other times on their own, they confront the emotional confusion of adolescence and grapple with their choices, decisions, and directions. Other people enter the boys