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I nodded my thanks and gave each kid a sticker of their choosing. I have ten thousand stickers, it’s the least I can do.
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Hope is what people “hang on to,” whatever that means, when they know they’ve lost but are stubborn and want to disappoint themselves.
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I’m reading. Is that waiting to die or living?
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Shawn will always be one of my kids, even though he’s been a grown-assed man for at least thirty years now. I remember certain students for random reasons. Shawn was a twin, a brilliant one. Blonde, nice looking, a sweeter young man with manners you’d never meet. He was a creative writer, but he’d never
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He was matter of fact, but I was shaking in my boots. I didn’t see this day coming so soon.
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Late at night, when Abe took off his hat, he crumbled like a cookie in a coffee cup of doubt.
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My trip ended too quickly, but before it did, I made a crucial but wonderful mistake.
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I could handle. I could buy what they needed, but not the cool stuff. Kids don’t miss what they don’t know.”
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More Marshmallows
Image generated with AI. “Excalibur, I call upon thee,” wrote Sam in his journal. He put his pen down and scratched his butt. He’d been sitting for hours and writing for minutes. He was ankle deep in gore and guts in his story. When the muse bit him, she must’ve bit blood, because that’s all Read more
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Dinner and a Show
AJ tossed a scant handful of pellets into the koi pond and watched the fish skitter to the top of the water to devour them before they returned to their seeming cyclical peace. Lost in thought, he leaned over the rail and studied their movements. His eyes followed the path of the fish around the Read more
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Wilting
“You might be able to keep a secret but these flowers can’t,” Imogene told the housekeeper. I need this place spotless before my company comes tomorrow. Imogene watered her flowers hoping they’d come back to life. They’d wilted flat, collapsed, maybe to the point that they wouldn’t come back. She had guests coming over and Read more
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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 Read more
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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 Read more
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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 Read more
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I nodded my thanks and gave each kid a sticker of their choosing. I have ten thousand stickers, it’s the least I can do.
-
Hope is what people “hang on to,” whatever that means, when they know they’ve lost but are stubborn and want to disappoint themselves.
-
I’m reading. Is that waiting to die or living?
-
Shawn will always be one of my kids, even though he’s been a grown-assed man for at least thirty years now. I remember certain students for random reasons. Shawn was a twin, a brilliant one. Blonde, nice looking, a sweeter young man with manners you’d never meet. He was a creative writer, but he’d never
-
He was matter of fact, but I was shaking in my boots. I didn’t see this day coming so soon.
-
Late at night, when Abe took off his hat, he crumbled like a cookie in a coffee cup of doubt.
-
My trip ended too quickly, but before it did, I made a crucial but wonderful mistake.
-
I could handle. I could buy what they needed, but not the cool stuff. Kids don’t miss what they don’t know.”
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The Accident
The first job Lucy had was in Brunetti’s Family Restaurant waiting tables, fast paced and busy. You had to be light on your feet and quick in your head to keep up with the baked steak and chicken and dumplin’s coming out of the kitchen. Who got iced tea with lemon and who didn’t mattered…
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Remote Learning
With rigid rigor, the school board called a two hour delay for students in ice and snow before any roads had even been treated after an all night snow storm. Employees were to report on time. In an abrupt change of plans, half an hour before school was supposed to begin, a remote day was…
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Hand me downs
“Let’s go to Goodwill,” said Ian. “I need to get Mom a birthday present.” He knew there was nothing I wanted more than an antique butter dish with a lid, and the best place to find it was at a thrift shop. Goodwill came to his mind first. Thrift shops carried specialty items. Like the…
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Vocabulary Promise
The truth is a burning promise I have to live up to or lie about. Truth comes in lots of flavors. It’s easier to lie and ignore what’s in front of me sometimes. Knowing what I have to do to live up to the standards of school, or home, or law. I’d rather live one…
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Two Hour Delay Day
At least we don’t have hurricanes.
Devonne Brown 