athesaurus.com

…breathe deeply and often…

  • Multiples

    I don’t know what kind of magic is in a twin, but I know there’s more power in it than science can explain. Read more

  • Big Tears…

    He was matter of fact, but I was shaking in my boots. I didn’t see this day coming so soon. Read more

  • Lincoln’s Tophat: One Story

    Late at night, when Abe took off his hat, he crumbled like a cookie in a coffee cup of doubt. Read more

  • My Luxurious Mistake: For Bruce and Gail

    My trip ended too quickly, but before it did, I made a crucial but wonderful mistake. Read more

  • Fire

    I learned a long time ago to hide the things you want most, for those will be taken from you first. Read more

  • Defensive Secrets

    I could handle. I could buy what they needed, but not the cool stuff. Kids don’t miss what they don’t know.” Read more


  • The Shade Room

    I am simple. I go to my shade room. It would be a sun room if there were no giant oaks and holly trees covering its porch and backyard. Moss, hostas, ferns and begonias grow there, as well as my bed of impatiens. Mint, the plant that’s supposed to take over the planet struggles. But…

  • Eavesdropping

    “Martha, I told you I would be late. I’m sorry you’ve got to put the kids to bed by yourself again tonight, I just got on the bus. I can’t teleport very well,” I could tell this well dressed, dark haired, professional dude, with the chiseled chin sitting beside me on the bus was in…

  • Kindness of Strangers

    Thank God for the kindness of strangers. Little mercies we are grateful for that we often take for granted, like someone holding the door when our arms are full. They’re rarely there at 6:00 a.m. I had my arms full. My teacher bag was draped across my left arm with my coffee in my hand,…

  • Tornado Sirens

    I was so glad to be home. The kids at school couldn’t have jumped any higher or harder on my last nerves. Our classroom was big enough to accommodate three times as many students, between their loud voices and their perpetually moving bodies they took up every square inch of it. Getting them in their…

  • Unspoken Trophy

    “I need an introduction to our class.” So, I was asked to lead an exercise, Off the cuff with no tenor and no bass My chest puffed out ever so slight, so wise. Stood taller, looking people in the eye Relax, lean back, let them complete the why As if not wanting to draw attention Wrote poems with the “I am” intentionsTrying…