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“Girl, shit happens. You can’t tell me it doesn’t. Sometimes our choices are part of the grand scheme of the universe. A tale told by someone else. But you’re not the bad guy of the story, you’re free now,” said Mary. Eve sobbed with guilt and grief. The snake around her ankle climbed higher up
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“I absolutely know what you want me to say,” said Thomas. He’d been with Celia all day and all evening. They’d worked all day together, been to the bar after work to celebrate with the public communications team, and now they were headed home. They were at the crossroads. “I can go right and head
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“Hugh Henry you have the ability to choke the living shit out of every situation like an intergalactic missile,” His mother told him straight up. She was tired of listening to his tirade about why the symphony shouldn’t play next Sunday. He thought it was too frivolous, way too frivolous, to assemble the whole orchestra
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“Everlastingly,” Janet hissed the word out as long as she could to give it the onomatopoeia sound of the crashing waves she needed to hear. “Listen! The mighty being is awake and doth with his eternal motion make a sound like thunder, everlastingly.” Janet quoted Wordsworth when she crossed the bridge to Emerald Isle. It
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So they threw them together into the stream and the two splashes they made were as one. They tossed the rings into the maelstrom of the churning rapidsTheir perfect union ended as it had begun, blessed and honored.Washed downstream in holy water,Their wedding rings lost in the turbulence on the river rocks beneath the white
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I hate to say it, but our family vacations with Dad were bad. He was the stick in the mud, the wet blanket, the damper of all flames, the downer. He provided all the eggshells on which we all had to walk. Our Myrtle Beach vacation, the first time any of us saw the sea
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What? What’s wrong with you? What’s wrong with you? Didn’t you hear me ask you first? What difference does that make? Are you going to answer me? Why wouldn’t I? What are you hiding? I’m not hiding anything? Aren’t you? How would you know? Why wouldn’t I know? Do you ever pay attention to me?
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What do I know that’s true? I know that my family and money are important whether I like it or not. Even my sister and my brother, whom I rant and rave and write about all the time, even when I don’t like them, are all important to me. No one knows us like our
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I got out the onions, cabbage, and Worcestershire sauce. I meant business. My day sucked and my socks were still wet. I’d made the decision in the car while the windshield wipers kept time to “I’ll Fly Away,” sung by Kanye West. The rapping, singing nut job of the music industry I loved to hate.
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It’s been said that panty hose are making a comeback. For me, they’d never left. I felt undressed without panty hose on. I need that filter to hide the varicose veins, bruises, and stray hairs that cover my legs no matter how close I thought I shaved. They tend to offer a gentle shaping to
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Defensive Secrets
“You majored in theatre in college, in your twenties and thirties, you were active in community theatre and children’s theatre, you taught theatre, yet you never took your boys to a play or got them involved in theatre when they were little. Why is that?” the news anchor asked me. I had been expecting this Read more
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Mom’s Roadtrip
Mom lost her mind and married Roebuck. None of the kids could stand him, but she was entitled to her midlife crisis, same as anyone else. Since his house burned down on their first date, something about gunpowder gun cleaning equipment and an explosion, such a catastrophe, that they moved to Texas soon after they Read more
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My Cloister
Smile. I biked to the cathedral in the spring. I was an overweight 40 year old American woman on a bike tangled in British traffic. The underpass near the roundabout before the cathedral was scary, traffic came from everywhere and all directions. I should not have survived the rides into town. That’s the cloister walk. Read more
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Dear Creativity
Dear Creativity, It’s time we stopped piddling about and started dancing together. Since I was little, you’ve been working against me instead of with me. You and I have been out of time and one ingredient shy of success since I was born, and you know it. You left me in the dust, or did Read more
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Running out of Time in Dante’s Spiral
“Turn in your papers.” “I’m not finished. You didn’t give us enough time,” said Jason. “You had two days to copy ten sentences correctly. That was enough time,” I said. “I wasn’t listening, that’s not fair. I’m calling my mom,” said Jason. Pressure. I wasn’t listening either. I wasn’t listening half of the time when Read more
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Leonard’s Top 10
Leonard’s Top 10 My current favorite book is Elmore leonard’s 10 Rules of Writing. It might be my favorite. It has pictures. It is what a book should be. It is complete. It is auditory, visual, and kinesthetic, if you get the hardback, which I did. Twice. This book is special. My first copy Read more
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“Girl, shit happens. You can’t tell me it doesn’t. Sometimes our choices are part of the grand scheme of the universe. A tale told by someone else. But you’re not the bad guy of the story, you’re free now,” said Mary. Eve sobbed with guilt and grief. The snake around her ankle climbed higher up
-
“I absolutely know what you want me to say,” said Thomas. He’d been with Celia all day and all evening. They’d worked all day together, been to the bar after work to celebrate with the public communications team, and now they were headed home. They were at the crossroads. “I can go right and head
-
“Hugh Henry you have the ability to choke the living shit out of every situation like an intergalactic missile,” His mother told him straight up. She was tired of listening to his tirade about why the symphony shouldn’t play next Sunday. He thought it was too frivolous, way too frivolous, to assemble the whole orchestra
-
“Everlastingly,” Janet hissed the word out as long as she could to give it the onomatopoeia sound of the crashing waves she needed to hear. “Listen! The mighty being is awake and doth with his eternal motion make a sound like thunder, everlastingly.” Janet quoted Wordsworth when she crossed the bridge to Emerald Isle. It
-
So they threw them together into the stream and the two splashes they made were as one. They tossed the rings into the maelstrom of the churning rapidsTheir perfect union ended as it had begun, blessed and honored.Washed downstream in holy water,Their wedding rings lost in the turbulence on the river rocks beneath the white
-
I hate to say it, but our family vacations with Dad were bad. He was the stick in the mud, the wet blanket, the damper of all flames, the downer. He provided all the eggshells on which we all had to walk. Our Myrtle Beach vacation, the first time any of us saw the sea
-
What? What’s wrong with you? What’s wrong with you? Didn’t you hear me ask you first? What difference does that make? Are you going to answer me? Why wouldn’t I? What are you hiding? I’m not hiding anything? Aren’t you? How would you know? Why wouldn’t I know? Do you ever pay attention to me?
-
What do I know that’s true? I know that my family and money are important whether I like it or not. Even my sister and my brother, whom I rant and rave and write about all the time, even when I don’t like them, are all important to me. No one knows us like our
-
I got out the onions, cabbage, and Worcestershire sauce. I meant business. My day sucked and my socks were still wet. I’d made the decision in the car while the windshield wipers kept time to “I’ll Fly Away,” sung by Kanye West. The rapping, singing nut job of the music industry I loved to hate.
-
It’s been said that panty hose are making a comeback. For me, they’d never left. I felt undressed without panty hose on. I need that filter to hide the varicose veins, bruises, and stray hairs that cover my legs no matter how close I thought I shaved. They tend to offer a gentle shaping to
-
The Hot Air Balloon
Image generated with AI. Martin’s mouth hung open as the hot air balloon rose over the trees. He heard the hot air being released under the bulbous fabric as it climbed towards the daylight half moon that hung suspended almost secretly against the blue of the sky. The silky fabric wiggled against the azure expanse…
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Bennie and Mavis
Image generated with AI. Mavis eyed the red dress in her closet. The flowing skirt, bell sleeves, and boat neck made it modest enough to wear anywhere with a touch of mystery and sophistication. The problem was the red, proper etiquette dictated red shouldn’t be worn to a funeral. Bennie would have loved the dress…
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Scammers Beware
Illustration generated with AI. The Albacore sat high above the traffic. “Fuck with me will ya?” he said to himself. Smug in the knowledge that he’d not only thwarted a sixty thousand dollar heist, he was just shy of catching the idiots who decided to scam the wrong dude. He watched them drive their electric…
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Second Chance
“Maggie, we’re letting you go.” That’s all she heard. She remembered being escorted out of the office, and then to her car. Craig, her boss, was matter of fact about it, and acted nice, but professional, when he walked her out. He tried making small talk. “You’re smart, have a great skill set, and your…
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Sandy’s Dream
Sandy hung on as tight as she could. She was ready for the flight but not the destination. She felt the butterflies in her knees first. They were weak and would tingle louder and harder the closer they came to landing, her stomach would turn before the final touch down. It would be hours before…
Devonne Brown 