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Today is the day I say goodbye to Thanksgiving break. Anxiety and depression levels are rising, tonight is a school night after all. No more messing around with cats, movies, music, and road trips. House cleaning and laundry will become more of the chore they were before, and less of a leisure activity, they were
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I am tempted to begin making my rough puff pastry for Christmas. It’s fully delicious and cheap to make. Yet it is the most labor intensive of all the Christmas delicacies I create, It’s worth every moment it takes for its creation. Butter and flour, rolled, folded, refrigerated and repeated at least five times, it
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Sherri had her daughter’s heart’s desire. Annie needed a beaded clutch purse to go with her formal dress for the prom, just big enough to hold her lipstick and her glasses. Styles go round and round, and she sure enough saved the pocket book she’d taken to her formal dance years ago. Truth be told,
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I wouldn’t have been in the grocery store on Thanksgiving morning if I didn’t need to take some dog food and a loaf of bread to my elderly aunt. That’s all she said she needed when I talked to her last night, after I baked her casserole. I would have been at home, binging on
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He’d been here before and wanted to show her something magnificent.
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“I felt my pulse quicken when lightning lit the sky again, it was far away and showed the line of floating houses”
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John noticed the barrier she’d put between them.
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Lucinda called the suicide hotline.. The counselor’s parting words were to cook something delicious just for herself. The counselor began with, “too hard to be alone, too hard to have a job you hate, too hard to be a senior citizen so far into debt the only way your life insurance would pay off would
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One of the “Thou shall nots” said not to kill; they decided they might as well do it anyway, but Moses, that wild man, parted a sea and took off like a shot
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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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Today is the day I say goodbye to Thanksgiving break. Anxiety and depression levels are rising, tonight is a school night after all. No more messing around with cats, movies, music, and road trips. House cleaning and laundry will become more of the chore they were before, and less of a leisure activity, they were
-
I am tempted to begin making my rough puff pastry for Christmas. It’s fully delicious and cheap to make. Yet it is the most labor intensive of all the Christmas delicacies I create, It’s worth every moment it takes for its creation. Butter and flour, rolled, folded, refrigerated and repeated at least five times, it
-
Sherri had her daughter’s heart’s desire. Annie needed a beaded clutch purse to go with her formal dress for the prom, just big enough to hold her lipstick and her glasses. Styles go round and round, and she sure enough saved the pocket book she’d taken to her formal dance years ago. Truth be told,
-
I wouldn’t have been in the grocery store on Thanksgiving morning if I didn’t need to take some dog food and a loaf of bread to my elderly aunt. That’s all she said she needed when I talked to her last night, after I baked her casserole. I would have been at home, binging on
-
He’d been here before and wanted to show her something magnificent.
-
“I felt my pulse quicken when lightning lit the sky again, it was far away and showed the line of floating houses”
-
John noticed the barrier she’d put between them.
-
Lucinda called the suicide hotline.. The counselor’s parting words were to cook something delicious just for herself. The counselor began with, “too hard to be alone, too hard to have a job you hate, too hard to be a senior citizen so far into debt the only way your life insurance would pay off would
-
One of the “Thou shall nots” said not to kill; they decided they might as well do it anyway, but Moses, that wild man, parted a sea and took off like a shot
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Gilly and the Peashooters
“Gilly and the Peashooters” was first published in Appalachian Fusion, Pine Mountain Sand and Gravel, Contemporary Appalachian Writing, Vol 27
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Creation sans fear
I don’t have to practice transcendental meditation to create masterworks, maybe I do.
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My Angels
On Monday, my twin premature babies will be twenty-six. I shake my head in disbelief. “We were angels before we were born, and we were sent to your tummy for our wings to grow off so we could take care of you.” Big silver two year old eyes looked up at me. He was speaking…
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She’s back
Her worst nightmare had come true. Diane was due back to assume command of operations in two weeks after being out for twelve for surgery. Her employees were happier without her. People got along better, things ran smoother, life was more relaxed. There were fewer feuds among staff, fewer emergencies popped up, things were just…
Devonne Brown 