athesaurus.com

…breathe deeply and often…

  • High School Gossip

    “I heard they broke up and Tom was going to ask Janeen to the prom,” Becky announced it in Social Studies class. “Betty was all upset about it in English this morning. She was so mad she was crying. I’d hate to be Janeen,”  “How do you know that’s why Betty was so mad and Read more

  • Anticipation

    Anticipation, sweaty palms shaking; Jittery, bouncing a foot on the floor Trembling legs crossing, uncrossing, twitching Recheck your hair in a makeup mirror Peek out the window, hover by the door Pace — hide your face behind your hands, cover Hover again, then sit quivering A pounding heart, lack of concentration Glances at the clock, Read more

  • Company

    Tonight. I am company. I tread lightly in my extended family’s home. I am a guest. I am on good behavior. I tell and listen to the telling from children with wide ears, eyes, and smiles. I am more polite than usual.  I have helped the eldest son get an A on an English paper, Read more

  • Interrupting Birdsong

    I asked for the time, but the darkness didn’t answer. I rolled out of bed, and walked down the hall to the kitchen. The clock on the stove said 3:00 a.m., so why not make coffee and enjoy the quiet of the morning? Listen to the songbirds and the breathing of the sleeping humans in Read more

  • Sanctuary

    All day I will talk nonsense. I will repeat a paragraph eight times in a day. I will point out its main idea, drag it out, make people paste it in a book, and read it back to me. I will pass out little pieces of paper with vocabulary words on them and glue bottles, Read more

  • Wedding Cut

    “I was sorta hoping you’d include me in your plans. You shouldn’ta moved your head so fast, now look what happened. You look better with longer hair,” she said. It seemed she was a little bit on the crazy side. “I’m Isabella. Everybody calls me Z for short. Want me to be your date for Read more


  • Portsmouth

    I need to go back to Portsmouth, UK to where my boys were born. I’d like to visit my neighbors, and hang with them a day or two. We’re good friends and good company. You don’t find that often enough these days.  I’d like to take the boys with me too. We could walk along…

  • But I don’t want to

    “Are you still working? Why don’t you retire?” Everybody wanted  to know because of the silver hair and wrinkles.  Fred asked at the wrong time. Janice was tired and not in the mood. He thought women were silly. He retired early five years ago.  “Why? Do you need someone to take care of you?” Janice…

  • Learning

    I’m too tired to argue and fuss about mess today.

  • Elvis and the Baltic Sea

    Drat, dammit, and O hell, my plans to go to the Baltic Sea for vacation had fallen through. I was at the pinnacle of despair, flustered to the very bone. It was the coffee klatches fault.  Susan’s husband had put his foot down, he said flat out “No.” He wasn’t about to let her go.…

  • Test Day

    It’s the little things that make mountains. Kaiden didn’t want to wear his headphones even though they were a requirement for the test. “I know how to read, why do I have to do this?” He was in the sixth grade, and his third grade reading scores indicated that headphones would be more helpful than…