athesaurus.com

…breathe deeply and often…

  • Holding Hands

    Alan came to my house to pick me up and we went somewhere. The first time I held Alan’s hand I was scared, bubbly, and giddy all at once. He held my hand to the car. That’s all I remember about the date – he reached out his hand for mine and I remember reaching

    Read more

  • Daphne Drumke 

    Daphne Drumke waited for her suitcase to pop out of the baggage terminal at Terminal three in Heathrow. There were everything but chickens in terminal three. A goat herd just passed. Daphne watched an armed guard roll his eyes at a well dressed woman in stilettos  leading a St. Bernard and twin boys, all on

    Read more

  • The High Priestess

    Lorraine was known for her arbitrary obsessions. One week it was crystals, spirits, and witchcraft, the next it was chocolate fudge. Whatever her random fixation, she did it with passion and all consuming gumption to the woe of her husband Cyril. He had learned over the years to stay quiet and sweep up the shards

    Read more

  • Windjammer

    The Windjammer hit the wave head on and leaped into the blue sky like a whale breaching the surface of the sea. Another wave pushed its bow down into the drink. Without his steering prowess, the sailboat surely would have capsized. The six year old opened his eyes, paused his imagination’s scenario, and scratched his

    Read more

  • Passion

    The kalamata olives were supposed to be pitted, but the one Sam just bit on broke the tip off his left canine, and the jolt brought tears to his eyes. He looked at his reflection in his phone for confirmation of damage. His tooth was rough and jagged. His matching short vampire teeth were now

    Read more

  • I Did a Thing…

    https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Norris+tales+ii&crid=3A2N1W43XCPVA&sprefix=norris+tales+ii%2Caps%2C87&ref=nb_sb_noss Available in paperback, hardback, or Kindle Unlimited or Kindle.

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  • Alpine 

    Alpine forgot all about the presentation due in Ethics 101 in two hours. He had a conglomeration of photos on his computer. A mix of people, places, and things, nouns he could mash together like words to spew out in front of a PowerPoint that would make him sound like he’d been up all night

    Read more

  • What color is “E”

    What color is the letter “E”? It’s red. E is the most used letter in the English language. It should stand out. E encompasses everything.  It’s one of the first letters children learn. For some reason, they even learn the term “schwa e” in first grade. I know I did. I still don’t know what

    Read more

  • You can see me?

    Image generated with AI Elsa had flour all over the kitchen and her fingers were sticky with dough. It would take more minutes of finger work, squeezing, kneading and molding the dough to get it to stick together for pastry. It would come together, get less sticky, then she would have to work her magic

    Read more

  • Clementine’s Parchment

    Image generated with AI. “I hate this tradition. It’s dumb. Why can’t we be like normal families and roast ducks and wear stupid hats?” said Janice. She was eighteen and didn’t want to write a sentence on her scroll this year.  “Write what you feel. If you think it’s a stupid tradition, write about it

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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

  • Holding Hands

    Alan came to my house to pick me up and we went somewhere. The first time I held Alan’s hand I was scared, bubbly, and giddy all at once. He held my hand to the car. That’s all I remember about the date – he reached out his hand for mine and I remember reaching

    Read more

  • Daphne Drumke 

    Daphne Drumke waited for her suitcase to pop out of the baggage terminal at Terminal three in Heathrow. There were everything but chickens in terminal three. A goat herd just passed. Daphne watched an armed guard roll his eyes at a well dressed woman in stilettos  leading a St. Bernard and twin boys, all on

    Read more

  • The High Priestess

    Lorraine was known for her arbitrary obsessions. One week it was crystals, spirits, and witchcraft, the next it was chocolate fudge. Whatever her random fixation, she did it with passion and all consuming gumption to the woe of her husband Cyril. He had learned over the years to stay quiet and sweep up the shards

    Read more

  • Windjammer

    The Windjammer hit the wave head on and leaped into the blue sky like a whale breaching the surface of the sea. Another wave pushed its bow down into the drink. Without his steering prowess, the sailboat surely would have capsized. The six year old opened his eyes, paused his imagination’s scenario, and scratched his

    Read more

  • Passion

    The kalamata olives were supposed to be pitted, but the one Sam just bit on broke the tip off his left canine, and the jolt brought tears to his eyes. He looked at his reflection in his phone for confirmation of damage. His tooth was rough and jagged. His matching short vampire teeth were now

    Read more

  • I Did a Thing…

    https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Norris+tales+ii&crid=3A2N1W43XCPVA&sprefix=norris+tales+ii%2Caps%2C87&ref=nb_sb_noss Available in paperback, hardback, or Kindle Unlimited or Kindle.

    Read more

  • Alpine 

    Alpine forgot all about the presentation due in Ethics 101 in two hours. He had a conglomeration of photos on his computer. A mix of people, places, and things, nouns he could mash together like words to spew out in front of a PowerPoint that would make him sound like he’d been up all night

    Read more

  • What color is “E”

    What color is the letter “E”? It’s red. E is the most used letter in the English language. It should stand out. E encompasses everything.  It’s one of the first letters children learn. For some reason, they even learn the term “schwa e” in first grade. I know I did. I still don’t know what

    Read more

  • You can see me?

    Image generated with AI Elsa had flour all over the kitchen and her fingers were sticky with dough. It would take more minutes of finger work, squeezing, kneading and molding the dough to get it to stick together for pastry. It would come together, get less sticky, then she would have to work her magic

    Read more

  • Clementine’s Parchment

    Image generated with AI. “I hate this tradition. It’s dumb. Why can’t we be like normal families and roast ducks and wear stupid hats?” said Janice. She was eighteen and didn’t want to write a sentence on her scroll this year.  “Write what you feel. If you think it’s a stupid tradition, write about it

    Read more


  • The Fishing Village

    Image generated with AI. I’ve never been to a fishing village in Scotland. I don’t care about cities and tourism. The small town misty cold draws me. I want to walk out on a rocky shore to hear the waves crash and redden my cheeks with cold as long as I can stand the grey…

  • Story Published!

    Thank you, Nolcha Fox and Chewers and Masticadores! Beatrice Entombed Millard watched the undertakers close the drawer that held Beatrice’s casket, and waited until everyone left the cemetery. A dusty brown cloud followed a parade of black limousines crawling their way up the side of a mountain to the main road. The last thing he…

  • Predictable Rant

    It’s time to get more aggressive about the life that I want. I’ve already decided what life I don’t want. I decided years ago that I wanted out of teaching. Retirement is within my reach. I called the retirement board and found that I was eligible for retirement six years ago, but it was financially…

  • The dusty journals

    Image generated with AI. Junebug looked at the stack of dusty handwritten journals in the corner. Like hell she wanted them. That’s all she needed, a stack of hundred year old books piled up beside the toolbox in the laundry room. Maybe they’d be better next to the washer, between the shelf where the charger…

  • Flutter

    Above the trees wings spreadBlack and cawingOn the breeze What’s left of theLeavesAs they race to flyHigherIn swirls and in whirlsBend to the groundAnd I dipThen upBefore I touch and soarAnd dive down againAlmost to the groundFallingWings spreadBlack and cawingOn the breezeBefore fall Becomes Winter again.