athesaurus.com

…breathe deeply and often…

  • “You damned idiot, you’d be late for your wedding, if you could find a damned woman who’d put up with your shit” said Cedric. He was trying so hard to be positive. He couldn’t though. He was an old man from out the creek, Clymers Creek. Paul couldn’t pour piss out of a boot. All

    Read more

  • A Nod to Dante

    In the middle of the journey I came to a dark wood where the straight way was lost. There was no yellow brick road circling toward an emerald city, only a crooked weed lined path with scraggly trees and tumbleweeds. None of the medication I took every morning made the day go right. Harpies to

    Read more

  • *The Circle “Well done! Well done!” Will stepped into the firelight, clapping. “Which one of you has the voice of an entire choir of angels? It could blow a hole through the top of the Globe. Now I will always have your voice in my head.” Rue crossed her arms and bent her head to

    Read more

  • Real Job?

    My first real job couldn’t have been when I was a waitress or a bartender. They were menial, physical, fast, and required a lot of memory. It was fun to be fast on my feet and fast in my head and hands. Those jobs required social skills and smiles, and knowing how to handle a

    Read more

  • I heard someone say

    I yawned and my coffee kicked in. 

    Read more

  • In the Museum

    It wasn’t the wonders on the museum wall that captured my attention, although there were plenty to see. I felt a pang of shame about it too. I was properly enthralled and humbled by Picasso’s blue period, Monet’s waters, and VanGogh’s wonder year. I knew sacred ground when I was on it. The rarified air

    Read more

  • Against the Tide

    Alice felt like a deer swimming against the tide in the ocean, a riptide, not realizing imminent death, or did she? Was it a conscious or subconscious attempt at suicide? She made the mistake in anger of asking a friend, “Just how much Prozac would kill me?” The shrink was at her house in half

    Read more

  • Seventh Gate 4 Will had been plotting murder in his mind for weeks, but couldn’t for the life of him figure out how to do it. His theatre had been closed for months because of the plague and people were screaming for blood. He cursed himself. Duncan had to die, but how? He mumbled and

    Read more

  • The Race

    The Race “If I hadn’t put off everything, I wouldn’t need to do this,” said Walter to nobody. He walked on the creaky old expansion bridge that crossed the river, it would be years before it would be repaired.  Every step he took the bridge shook and sent another random thought through his brain. Sometimes

    Read more

  • Knives or Feathers

    “ ‘Whatever,’ is the wrong answer,” I said to myself, to the boys, to the cat, to the dog. Be specific in your choices. You only get to make this one once. Make it a happy one, always. Consequences come at you with knives or feathers. I much prefer feathers, the soft parts anyway. Everything

    Read more

  •  Nobody is watching

    Nobody is watching. Read more

  • Joys of Homeownership

    “I know it’s not much, but I’ve been saving this for the apocalypse,” Traci dumped her bag on the dining room table. A ball of twine, a box of matches, a straight razor, scissors, a bottle of valium, and a loaded pistol.  “This isn’t the apocalypse, the pipes are backed up. We have to call Read more

  • Paris

    Betty dreaded opening the package the mailman was about to deliver. She knew what it was when she  watched him come up the street. She should just refuse to accept it, turn around and send it back right then. Return to sender. That would be the smart thing to do. She didn’t want to dredge Read more

  • Ginger Tom

    Geraldine didn’t appreciate that stray yellow cat that dropped her kitten at the front door. There it was though, eyes open, wobbly legged, barely weaned, and yellow as its mama. She thought of just sweeping it off the porch like trash. What else could it eat besides milk? Shit. She’d have to go to Walmart. Read more

  • Rum Punch

    I didn’t need to drink, didn’t want to end up a human popsicle on the interstate somewhere between here and home. Read more

  • Yutori

    Shimmering lights were ahead of him. Read more

  • “You damned idiot, you’d be late for your wedding, if you could find a damned woman who’d put up with your shit” said Cedric. He was trying so hard to be positive. He couldn’t though. He was an old man from out the creek, Clymers Creek. Paul couldn’t pour piss out of a boot. All

    Read more

  • A Nod to Dante

    In the middle of the journey I came to a dark wood where the straight way was lost. There was no yellow brick road circling toward an emerald city, only a crooked weed lined path with scraggly trees and tumbleweeds. None of the medication I took every morning made the day go right. Harpies to

    Read more

  • *The Circle “Well done! Well done!” Will stepped into the firelight, clapping. “Which one of you has the voice of an entire choir of angels? It could blow a hole through the top of the Globe. Now I will always have your voice in my head.” Rue crossed her arms and bent her head to

    Read more

  • Real Job?

    My first real job couldn’t have been when I was a waitress or a bartender. They were menial, physical, fast, and required a lot of memory. It was fun to be fast on my feet and fast in my head and hands. Those jobs required social skills and smiles, and knowing how to handle a

    Read more

  • I heard someone say

    I yawned and my coffee kicked in. 

    Read more

  • In the Museum

    It wasn’t the wonders on the museum wall that captured my attention, although there were plenty to see. I felt a pang of shame about it too. I was properly enthralled and humbled by Picasso’s blue period, Monet’s waters, and VanGogh’s wonder year. I knew sacred ground when I was on it. The rarified air

    Read more

  • Against the Tide

    Alice felt like a deer swimming against the tide in the ocean, a riptide, not realizing imminent death, or did she? Was it a conscious or subconscious attempt at suicide? She made the mistake in anger of asking a friend, “Just how much Prozac would kill me?” The shrink was at her house in half

    Read more

  • Seventh Gate 4 Will had been plotting murder in his mind for weeks, but couldn’t for the life of him figure out how to do it. His theatre had been closed for months because of the plague and people were screaming for blood. He cursed himself. Duncan had to die, but how? He mumbled and

    Read more

  • The Race

    The Race “If I hadn’t put off everything, I wouldn’t need to do this,” said Walter to nobody. He walked on the creaky old expansion bridge that crossed the river, it would be years before it would be repaired.  Every step he took the bridge shook and sent another random thought through his brain. Sometimes

    Read more

  • Knives or Feathers

    “ ‘Whatever,’ is the wrong answer,” I said to myself, to the boys, to the cat, to the dog. Be specific in your choices. You only get to make this one once. Make it a happy one, always. Consequences come at you with knives or feathers. I much prefer feathers, the soft parts anyway. Everything

    Read more