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I need to go back to Portsmouth, UK to where my boys were born. I’d like to visit my neighbors, and hang with them a day or two. We’re good friends and good company. You don’t find that often enough these days. I’d like to take the boys with me too. We could walk along
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“Are you still working? Why don’t you retire?” Everybody wanted to know because of the silver hair and wrinkles. Fred asked at the wrong time. Janice was tired and not in the mood. He thought women were silly. He retired early five years ago. “Why? Do you need someone to take care of you?” Janice
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Drat, dammit, and O hell, my plans to go to the Baltic Sea for vacation had fallen through. I was at the pinnacle of despair, flustered to the very bone. It was the coffee klatches fault. Susan’s husband had put his foot down, he said flat out “No.” He wasn’t about to let her go.
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It’s the little things that make mountains. Kaiden didn’t want to wear his headphones even though they were a requirement for the test. “I know how to read, why do I have to do this?” He was in the sixth grade, and his third grade reading scores indicated that headphones would be more helpful than
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What was I supposed to do, paint illustrations of ghost stories?
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Nobody is watching.
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“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
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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
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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.
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Steak, Potatoes, and Sushi
“I don’t understand. Why do you think I don’t see you? You’re sitting right in front of me. You look lovely tonight,” Max told Emily in a hushed tone. He didn’t want to make a scene. He was afraid the waiter or the couple in the booth next to them might hear. “It’s not about Read more
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Eudaimonia
Image generated with AI “Eudaimonia” human flourishing a contented state of being happy and healthy and prosperous… “Twelve folks are coming for Thanksgiving,” said Margaret. “Is that a blessing or a curse?” asked Floralee. They’d been best friends since their college days at Bethel Hill. Margaret limped around the kitchen, holding on to the countertop Read more
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Time to walk away
Floralee drifted high above the valley in her balloon of daffodil seeds. She stayed aloft with her hopes and wishes of all that she’d ever dreamed. Floralee turned over in the bed. She saw the tops of green mountains and wondered what that meant. The wind blew and thousands of white petals of dandelion dust Read more
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Baby Barber
Image generated with AI I don’t remember shaving my sister’s legs when she was days old. I heard that story so many times growing up that I can feel my dad’s razor in my tiny hand. He was a barber, and the razor blade was double edged. The razor, thank god, wasn’t a straight one, Read more
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Salty
“Salty or sweet?” he asked in an online conversation. “Salty.” I replied without even thinking about it. Potato chips and dip are my absolute favorite snacks, God’s ambrosia. I prefer salt over sweet any day. I even put Chex Mix, my all time home made favorite Christmas snack over ice cream to balance it out. Read more
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I need to go back to Portsmouth, UK to where my boys were born. I’d like to visit my neighbors, and hang with them a day or two. We’re good friends and good company. You don’t find that often enough these days. I’d like to take the boys with me too. We could walk along
-
“Are you still working? Why don’t you retire?” Everybody wanted to know because of the silver hair and wrinkles. Fred asked at the wrong time. Janice was tired and not in the mood. He thought women were silly. He retired early five years ago. “Why? Do you need someone to take care of you?” Janice
-
Drat, dammit, and O hell, my plans to go to the Baltic Sea for vacation had fallen through. I was at the pinnacle of despair, flustered to the very bone. It was the coffee klatches fault. Susan’s husband had put his foot down, he said flat out “No.” He wasn’t about to let her go.
-
It’s the little things that make mountains. Kaiden didn’t want to wear his headphones even though they were a requirement for the test. “I know how to read, why do I have to do this?” He was in the sixth grade, and his third grade reading scores indicated that headphones would be more helpful than
-
What was I supposed to do, paint illustrations of ghost stories?
-
Nobody is watching.
-
“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
-
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
-
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.
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Lasagne Night
“Do you remember when we had dinner in that old house in the woods on the farm?” Ruby asked as she took the pan of lasagne out of the oven. Alan smiled. “Yeah, you wore your prom dress and I wore my sport coat. Mom made lasagne for us. We took it to that little…
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School’s Out for Summer
Image generated with AI Being home in my forest among my flowers allows me to be me. The old people said “tending violets cures melancholy.” There’s something about digging in dirt to plant my begonias and impatiens that does the same thing. It restores my soul from working all fall and winter. Every morning of…
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Goulash
Image generated with AI. “I’m making goulash for dinner tonight. I’m going to use Mom’s recipe too.” said Janice. Mason hoped she remembered the recipe. Sometimes her memory of her Mom’s dishes were sketchy and turned out awful like the soup. He was skeptical of this goulash stuff. It had a weird name to it…
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Solace
Image generated with AI. In the old stories, when life went sideways, the princess had to go to the haunted forest to find the oracle. Diane thought she might as well give it a shot. It was a hundred degrees outside. The creek was ankle deep, the shade dappled and dark. She’d start looking here.…
Devonne Brown 