athesaurus.com

…breathe deeply and often…

  • Christmas Eve Morning

    “Hell, Stan, there are too many for a list?” Stan shook his head no, and whistled low. Greg oozed frustration. “Were you ever sure about anything?” “ I swear we’re here.” Stan jumped up and dunked on Greg. Steve dunked on both of them, then got serious.  “We’ll never get a list like this right,”

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  • A Cat at the Museum

    “I know what “Azure” means, why wouldn’t I know what happiness and tranquility mean? Just because you’re my Papa doesn’t mean you’re smart or anything.”

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  • The Race

    This isn’t an excerpt, it’s a warning. A reader told me this was depressing.

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  • “You better have the coffee ready before you get me out of bed.”

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  • My Mincemeat Pie

    The finest pie I’ve ever made screams Christmas.

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  • Bombed Out

    He loved nothing more than a roomful of people drinking and smoking and giving him his undivided devotion and attention.

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  • Snow Before Dawn

    At least there would be no school.

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  • Never start a novel with the weather.

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  • WeeGee Slumber Party

    “Don’t tell your mom I let you see a Ouija Board. They’re not toys,”

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  • Listen

    Listen on purposeLift your spirit with good words, and make your soul smile.

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  • 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

  • Christmas Eve Morning

    “Hell, Stan, there are too many for a list?” Stan shook his head no, and whistled low. Greg oozed frustration. “Were you ever sure about anything?” “ I swear we’re here.” Stan jumped up and dunked on Greg. Steve dunked on both of them, then got serious.  “We’ll never get a list like this right,”

    Read more

  • A Cat at the Museum

    “I know what “Azure” means, why wouldn’t I know what happiness and tranquility mean? Just because you’re my Papa doesn’t mean you’re smart or anything.”

    Read more

  • The Race

    This isn’t an excerpt, it’s a warning. A reader told me this was depressing.

    Read more

  • “You better have the coffee ready before you get me out of bed.”

    Read more

  • My Mincemeat Pie

    The finest pie I’ve ever made screams Christmas.

    Read more

  • Bombed Out

    He loved nothing more than a roomful of people drinking and smoking and giving him his undivided devotion and attention.

    Read more

  • Snow Before Dawn

    At least there would be no school.

    Read more

  • Never start a novel with the weather.

    Read more

  • WeeGee Slumber Party

    “Don’t tell your mom I let you see a Ouija Board. They’re not toys,”

    Read more

  • Listen

    Listen on purposeLift your spirit with good words, and make your soul smile.

    Read more

  • Kinship

    The artists couldn’t have been more different. One used a palette knife to sculpt landscapes of heaven. He caught the flickering glint of stars and swirling clouds of gas and light with oily pigments. He imprisoned the light and wonder of Orion, caught his bow in mid-aim. His kin captured the magnificence of the heavens…

  • Jung Smung

    Jung says, “No matter what the world thinks about religious experience, the one who has it possesses a great treasure, a thing that has for him become a source of life, meaning and beauty, and that has given a new splendor to the world.” I’ve experienced many denominations of religious faith in my life. The…

  • Ceraunophilia (n) loving thunder and lightning and finding them intensely beautiful

    “The lightning webbed and arced across the black sky. Thunder of a thousand sonic booms shook the whole house. It did it again and again and again. “I got it on my camera, look. It’s phenomenal. I bet it goes viral. “What do you think?” asked Sadie. “Look, here it comes again. James Weldon Johnson’s…

  • Mommy’s Angel

    I begged for a guitar for Christmas. I got down on my knees in supplication to Mom one Saturday morn when the snow was knee deep outside, I remember. That’s all she heard that year. I did every chore she gave me with glee, on the outside at least, three quarters my best instead of…

  • Good King Wenceslas

    “I love the way the full moon glistens on the snow when it’s deep and crisp and even like this, not a mark on it,” the good king said. It was St. Stephen’s Day, Boxing Day, the patron saint of stonemasons and bricklayers, the first martyr, stoned to death for blasphemy. He was also the…