athesaurus.com

…breathe deeply and often…

  • 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.

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  • Yutori

    Shimmering lights were ahead of him.

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  • January 6

    In a flash of inspiration, Cynthia decided to celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany.  She’d had a vision of the three wise men giving their gifts to the Christ child and decided it would be fun to have a small Christmas today. She was sure to get an eye roll from her kids. That’s what

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  • Who would have thought a six year old would put a curse on a toybox, but he did. Ian wrote “This toybox is cursed” on the lid of a round cheese wheel box in permanent black marker. He’d given warning, especially to his brother Nick, to leave his stuff alone.  Time is a bootlegged curse.

    Read more

  • The Last Goodbye

    Jill set up the tea table for her and Alan. It was the most romantic spot she had ever seen. It was stupid to put it in a field of perfect spheres of ripe round seeds, ready to blow away at the slightest breeze. Nothing stays the same. It wasn’t windy, maybe it would last

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  • Ukiyo 

    “I’m home,” Liza said walking through the door of her house. Nobody answered, nobody was there. “I’m home,” she sighed. The silence that greeted her made her smile. She set her bag on the floor beside the china cabinet and heard the faint rattle of the dishes within its wooden walls. The cat sauntered from

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  • Reflection

    Will I be calm because I am the crone now? The wise woman and matriarch. I’ve been where most women haven’t been yet and I hope they don’t have to tread in all of my footsteps. I’ve walked through painful places, broken glass and hot coals in bare feet to develop the calluses of wisdom. 

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  • Bridal White

    Say yes to the dress. There’s power in the dress. I remember my sister standing in the dressing room as she stepped into the puddle of white satin on the floor. The puddle became an armor of white. Bridal white.  At twenty-three, I was reluctant to get a wedding dress. I couldn’t bear to go

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  • The Tree

    Once upon a time, I felt like I was separate from everyone else, standing off to the side by myself. I felt ugly and freakish. I just didn’t feel like I was in the forest with the rest of the trees. I felt like a different species that had been planted in the yard as

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  • Ask, I Dare you

    Iwish thatI had patience but I know better than to ask for itto help me get just that.Patience has to come from trials and not something that is freely given.It is earned, learned, made, muddled, and messed up.Never ask God for patience. He’ll test you instead. Read more

  • Inertia

    Whatever you practice you get better at. You have to run four miles a day to run four  miles a day. If you want to make puff pastry, you have to make puff pastry. It’s not something you just get up one morning and do. It takes time and error. It’s simple, but complicated.   You Read more

  • Water Wings

    Water Wings “Let go,” he said. He trusted his water wings as much as he trusted me in the deep end under the lifeguard stand. I wasn’t sure I heard him right. There was so much noise around us. Splashing, water falling, kids screaming. I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear him right. He was Read more

  • I’m Fine

    “How are you?” she asked. That’s always a loaded question. Who asks it gets a different version of the truth of it. The answer is most usually the first lie of the day. “Fine.” I’m scared. I’m worried for my life. I am worried for my son’s life. He’s working on his master’s in grad Read more

  • The Mighty Oak

    The Mighty Oak Although it is true that it looked easy, swinging off a rope ain’t what it’s cracked up to be. It takes more engineering and logic than some people have to make it work right.   When the dirt road was eye level to the best swinging branch of the giant oak tree, Alan Read more

  • She Waited

    She waited… Margo kept thinking to herself, “I waited, but I don’t think it was long enough, or maybe I was on the wrong track. That must’ve been it. I was on the wrong track. I know I got the trains  mixed up.” She wept. She sat on her suitcase on the platform and just 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

  • January 6

    In a flash of inspiration, Cynthia decided to celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany.  She’d had a vision of the three wise men giving their gifts to the Christ child and decided it would be fun to have a small Christmas today. She was sure to get an eye roll from her kids. That’s what

    Read more

  • Who would have thought a six year old would put a curse on a toybox, but he did. Ian wrote “This toybox is cursed” on the lid of a round cheese wheel box in permanent black marker. He’d given warning, especially to his brother Nick, to leave his stuff alone.  Time is a bootlegged curse.

    Read more

  • The Last Goodbye

    Jill set up the tea table for her and Alan. It was the most romantic spot she had ever seen. It was stupid to put it in a field of perfect spheres of ripe round seeds, ready to blow away at the slightest breeze. Nothing stays the same. It wasn’t windy, maybe it would last

    Read more

  • Ukiyo 

    “I’m home,” Liza said walking through the door of her house. Nobody answered, nobody was there. “I’m home,” she sighed. The silence that greeted her made her smile. She set her bag on the floor beside the china cabinet and heard the faint rattle of the dishes within its wooden walls. The cat sauntered from

    Read more

  • Reflection

    Will I be calm because I am the crone now? The wise woman and matriarch. I’ve been where most women haven’t been yet and I hope they don’t have to tread in all of my footsteps. I’ve walked through painful places, broken glass and hot coals in bare feet to develop the calluses of wisdom. 

    Read more

  • Bridal White

    Say yes to the dress. There’s power in the dress. I remember my sister standing in the dressing room as she stepped into the puddle of white satin on the floor. The puddle became an armor of white. Bridal white.  At twenty-three, I was reluctant to get a wedding dress. I couldn’t bear to go

    Read more

  • The Tree

    Once upon a time, I felt like I was separate from everyone else, standing off to the side by myself. I felt ugly and freakish. I just didn’t feel like I was in the forest with the rest of the trees. I felt like a different species that had been planted in the yard as

    Read more

  • Mama’s Revenge

    Image generated with AI. “Did I miss a message?” She knew her son’s intentions, she just thought he knew better, she didn’t want to get into a sniping match, so she shut up. Some things were better left unsaid. Mama didn’t like it when her boy kept her car out all night without asking. “I…

  • Potato Salad

    Image generated with AI When I go outside, summer smells like rain and cut grass. If I sit on my rocking chair on the back porch, I smell the deep green dirt and dead leaves of forest earth supporting my flowers. The deadfall of the yard, dotted with bright pink begonias and orange, fuchsia, and…

  • Promise and Truth

    Image generated with AI Alice Krudworthy gave up on lying a long time ago. She quit making up shit, but would often omit certain details to bend the thinking of whomever she was talking to. “What did you have for dinner?” Someone would ask innocuously.  “Salad, with apples, chickpeas, avocados, tomatoes, and crab. I made…

  • Fall, Flail, or Fly?

    Photo by Tasha Marie To be or not to be.  fall, flail, or fly? Ribs tight and hard, stomach in knots.  I don’t even see the setting sun, there are no colors left in the grey of dusk.  The ocean laps and pounds the jutting rock on which I stand.  I pull my hair to…

  • Wet Produce

    Image generated with AI. Grocery shopping is a necessary evil. I don’t like shopping in the first place, and spending an exorbitant amount of money on sustenance seems like a sin. Life is so expensive, it doesn’t need to be so annoying to get the things I need and want. Ordering groceries online for pickup…