Every Christmas, the two sisters were each gifted a doll that had the coloring of the other. Beth, the elder sister, always coveted Maddie's doll. She yearned to have a doll with hair like the light of the sun and a dress the color of cotton candy. Instead, Beth received the Latina version of the … Continue reading the gift
Category: stories
i’m a stranger to my inner writing sadist
What do you do when you want to write a short story but coddle your characters so much that even the antagonist/villain becomes a milquetoast and nothing ever happens in the story world? I think I understand a story's building blocks. I've read dozens of books on the subject. But applying that knowledge has been … Continue reading i’m a stranger to my inner writing sadist
longing has overstayed its welcome
She studied the calendar. How many more years before her desire died down, she wondered. Before biology would loosen it grip on hormones that held her hostage. It was a taskmaster demanding carnal satisfaction, an appendage she neither wanted nor needed, a great distractor from dreams that mattered. It would never be satisfied, could never … Continue reading longing has overstayed its welcome
even the squirrels were suicidal
Here's a bit of nonsense narrative I wrote today. ************************* It was a non-day, the kind of day that didn't know what kind of day it was. The blame lay squarely with the weather which couldn't make up its mind so it tried resting somewhere in the middle. There were white cloud-like wisps hovering in … Continue reading even the squirrels were suicidal
banana bread, anyone?
Virgil and Sharon Smith measure their day by television programming. As they tell guests during commercial breaks, "...two o'clock is Bonzai Gunslingers. Then at three we watch Entitled Rich 1950's Girl Pseudodrama. After that is Guess the Price of This Crap..." From morning to night their day is jam-packed. Right now, it's 8:23 on Wednesday … Continue reading banana bread, anyone?
standing still
She stares at a bright sliver of green on the other side of the narrow forest opening. It is a lure beckoning through trees that loom around her like a formation of hovering mothers and nervous lovers pressing in on her, like uptight seaweed filtering out the sun. She is a hungry fish trying to … Continue reading standing still
a new dining room table
I am eight years old in rumpled shorts and t-shirt meandering through an urban cavern of white painted ceiling and walls. False lights fail to mimic the sun in that space full of wood and animals. The salesmen are tigers in suits, smiling, gesturing. The furniture lay scattered about the floor: fallen, dead things polished … Continue reading a new dining room table
life in jello 