The Short Farewell
Cold as a dry cube of ice sticking to my tongue, your eyes freeze me in suspended animation, the last vestige of a misbegotten effort.
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Picture Perfect
“What do you do in your private life when we’re not together?” Cody asked. “What kind of a question is that?” Don replied, glancing away. “I want to understand who you are in your private life, Don. Not the you I already know. The you in your secret alone-time. What do you think? What do
Beyond the Sandbar
The sun crested the horizon and burned the mist from the water. Helen sat at her writing desk and stared out the window at the calm sea. She hadn’t missed her morning swim all summer, and she liked these conditions. She wanted to feel the cool salty water against her skin. She finished the letter
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New Beginnings
Nothing had broken Leo’s way that year. In January, he lost a battle with his mortgage company that cost him his home. His wife left him in February, taking their two children and the family dog with her. She said she was tired of being ignored. He told her he didn’t want to hear it.
Midwinter
She lay on her back next to the fire, covered in a patchwork of animal hides. Her leathery flesh, now barren of fat and muscle, would soon mingle with the earth that once nurtured her. She coughed, and her rattling breath delivered a misty offering to the indifferent stars. Childhood memories flashed through her thoughts,
Parental Guilt
In the corner of the park, thick-bodied children splash violently in the waterworks, blameless until that day they too inherit parental guilt. Careening spastically into each other and shrieking under the blistering sun, they don’t yet question the mistakes made for life on Earth.