Stories

The body jerks, leaves shaken

The body jerks. Leaves shaken. A breath of hot anger exhales, turns into a sigh, turns into a wondering -- what’s it gonna take? This time? The eyes gleam to an empty ceiling, turn to two smiles, peak to love and, flowers on concrete, fall again into broad, hail confusion. Do near misses with Death make you want to die? The way near misses with success make you want to? The way near misses with Love make you want to die?…

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Splint Licker

He’d hurried onto the plane after everyone was seated, his long gray hair shaped like a triangle around his head, appearing as a strange halo behind him. He was about five feet tall, and he had to reach his arms all the way up when he stuffed his mauve faux-leather sack, which was peeling with age, into the last known overhead spot. He sat down with a light glumph and clicked the seat’s buckle. The massive albatross put its fat head down and flapped down the long runway…

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The table end

…the ways in which I would never see again, truncated like the picture you know so well, yet the only one you may ever own, the mystery of the horrible ways in which I may live tomorrow if the truth is what was happening here…

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The herd

But let’s all be honest here, if we can. Let’s try that antique practice we once knew. Let’s speak the truth. None of us could blame him. None of us ever wanted to look away…

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