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“What do you mean something’s wrong with the kitchen sink, I just spent 4500 dollars getting it fixe?”
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“Marianne, fun stuff comes with a certain age.” Sarcasm dripped. “ Pain comes out of nowhere, it leaves one disgusted and usually debilitated in some sense of the word.” Her thumb was out of commission for a weekend once. She couldn’t use her left hand, gratefully, She was right handed, but it made typing a
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Show Biz “Oh, come on. You can be Festus and you can be Ms. Kitty,” “But, I want to be Matthew. He’s the sheriff,” he was being petulant, we all knew because his lower lip was sticking out. He was a decent actor. “You can’t be Matthew. You get all the women in the cat
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Make Mistakes The acronym for Math is Mistakes Allow Thinking to Happen. Because of the mistakes I’ve made in my life, I am the wisest woman in the country, not the world though, I have not experienced war. I’ve thought about it, and don’t want to go through it. I know it’s coming to this
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“Aren’t you supposed to party with pretty plates and finger foods on New Year’s day?” “You’re supposed to put out all these pretty snacks and have your friends over and drink champagne and talk about all the disappointment you got at Christmas.” “You’re supposed to be putting away the Christmas tree, running the sweeper, doing
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Jan 1 Writing Prompt I didn’t make this one up. “What chances in my life did I let go or didn’t take?” This is the stuff that four a.m. monologues are made of. I laugh in the face of such insolence, ha. Should we include the stupid alternative choices I made as well? I should
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Don’t make any, They have no power, no grip That’s not exactly true You always remember them, no matter what you do. It’s a boundary thing. Put your head down and go face first into the maelstrom, get it over with Like shots, jabs, injections When I was in my forty-fives, I swan dove into
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God, if you say one more weird thing about something, You’ll get punched.
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The Mystery in the Cook Book
I pulled the book off the shelves that looked most promising for a real recipe for rough puff pastry. The Great British Baking Show offered more inspiration than information, and Wolfgang Puck’s book looked more promising than most on the St. Albans library shelves. The book held that exquisite new book smell to it, and Read more
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Teachers’ Kids
“Out, out brief candle,” I said. “Shakespeare is so antiquated. They’re taking him out of the schools now. He’s irrelevant,” said Nick. My son was six. “Can you tell a story in a thousand words or less in iambic pentameter? I didn’t think so.” “Just tell me a bedtime story,” he said. “It was a Read more
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Black Licorice
“Which house shall we hit next, the brick one or that long white one with just the porch light on?” The Bunny Sisters collaborated. Trick or Treat was a serious matter. It had to be done in the most efficient and interesting of ways. Their costumes were fashioned of dresses from the thirties and their Read more
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An Unlikely Account of Lincoln’s Tophat
Not many people knew of Mercucio Sibedow, haberdasher to the presidency. Mercucio grew up south of the Mason Dixon line. He learned from his daddy how to make hats and ties, leather gloves, fashion mens finishing touches. You’d think that finishing touches were woman’s work, but that would be absolutely not true. In the world Read more
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How to hide a genius
As a society, we paint the most malformed picture we can grumble about. We tangle our thoughts in knots of despair so tight we can’t move from one group to the next without dire consequences. Once you move, there’s no going back, especially if you’ve moved “down.” Shunning is done with silent delight. Open, honest, Read more
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Familiar Strangers
“Do I know you?” they both asked simultaneously, then laughed. Susan stepped backwards two steps. That laugh of his was more familiar than his face and all the warmth and funny drained out of it. She didn’t like the way she felt at all. She held a smile on her face. Maybe it wasn’t him. Read more
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“What do you mean something’s wrong with the kitchen sink, I just spent 4500 dollars getting it fixe?”
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“Marianne, fun stuff comes with a certain age.” Sarcasm dripped. “ Pain comes out of nowhere, it leaves one disgusted and usually debilitated in some sense of the word.” Her thumb was out of commission for a weekend once. She couldn’t use her left hand, gratefully, She was right handed, but it made typing a
-
Show Biz “Oh, come on. You can be Festus and you can be Ms. Kitty,” “But, I want to be Matthew. He’s the sheriff,” he was being petulant, we all knew because his lower lip was sticking out. He was a decent actor. “You can’t be Matthew. You get all the women in the cat
-
Make Mistakes The acronym for Math is Mistakes Allow Thinking to Happen. Because of the mistakes I’ve made in my life, I am the wisest woman in the country, not the world though, I have not experienced war. I’ve thought about it, and don’t want to go through it. I know it’s coming to this
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“Aren’t you supposed to party with pretty plates and finger foods on New Year’s day?” “You’re supposed to put out all these pretty snacks and have your friends over and drink champagne and talk about all the disappointment you got at Christmas.” “You’re supposed to be putting away the Christmas tree, running the sweeper, doing
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Jan 1 Writing Prompt I didn’t make this one up. “What chances in my life did I let go or didn’t take?” This is the stuff that four a.m. monologues are made of. I laugh in the face of such insolence, ha. Should we include the stupid alternative choices I made as well? I should
-
Don’t make any, They have no power, no grip That’s not exactly true You always remember them, no matter what you do. It’s a boundary thing. Put your head down and go face first into the maelstrom, get it over with Like shots, jabs, injections When I was in my forty-fives, I swan dove into
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God, if you say one more weird thing about something, You’ll get punched.
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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…
Devonne Brown 