athesaurus.com

…breathe deeply and often…

  • Intro…

    “It’s jacked up. Nobody consulted me about a standard damned poodle coming into this house. Life was just fine. It’s jacked up as shit,” said Norris. He stomped in a circle and thumped his tail before he could compose himself to continue. He was too damned mad. Norris was without words. “This had better not… Read more

  • The Last Sunday

    The Last Sunday of Summer Today is the last Sunday of summer. I go back to school tomorrow. A whole new ride starts. I didn’t think about it until yesterday. God, I hate giving up summer.  I became a writer this summer. Being a writer gives you permission to stay home and write. In fact,… Read more

  • Funding

    “Thank you, Ms. Parsons.” I handed the officer my drivers’ license and registration as the window rolled down. I swear I came to a full stop at the stop sign. He read my name from the license and smiled at me. I wondered if he thought I looked like a criminal. My black car was… Read more

  • Garden Success

    All gardens need a boy. Read more

  • Soccer Mom

    Soccer Mom “When someone makes a goal, click this button and record the time here and the kid’s number here,” said Linda, the coach. She was pointing to two columns on an Excel Spreadsheet on one of those coach’s clipboards with the secret compartments.  “They’re six, Linda, why do we need a spreadsheet?”  I think… Read more

  • Summer Days

    Summer Days People ask me how I spend my summers. I have few human relatives near me, so Norris, Madam, and Opal Pearl are the immediate family. The true answer is I spend my summers doing whatever I want. I met two and a half goals this summer, and I rarely set goals. The first… Read more


  • Patience of the trees

    I grew up on a dirt road with quiet skies and darkened rooms where there was one light in the center of the room and two table lamps, a luxury beside a rocking chair and one end of the couch for reading. The kitchens had a dim bulb in the middle as did the bedrooms.…

  • Message

    I’ve been to two funerals this week. Two uncles, one from my dad, one from my mom. Dad’s brother had  a military funeral, Mom’s brother had a Masonic funeral. The military funeral had a twenty-one gun salute at the end of it. The Masons chanted and made hand signals. Both were dignified and sent the…

  • A path through the woods

    There were  hundreds of acres to explore and I suppose we stepped through all of them. We walked through the woods for miles, following each other. The path was the one we created, or sometimes the deer or both. They are creatures of habits, the same as we. We had no place in mind to…

  • First Memories

    I have two distinct memories before I could walk. The first one was being held in my uncle’s arms and reaching for my mother. I loved my uncle Paul as much as any six or seven month old can love another human being who’s around all the time. But I remember throwing my body towards…

  • Winter is…is not

    Cold…killing cold.