Yearly Archives: 2012

Malaise

Posted on by February 25, 2020

Renee woke from a dream about a bee swarm to find the temperature had gone up in the night and the kitten had become embedded in her left arm. “Get off, Tabby. I hate these pills,” she muttered. But she didn’t. Although they put her into such a deep sleep that she had twice now slept through kitty claws, the pills made it possible to get out of bed at all by the light of day. Groggy, she could manage.

As soon as she had peeled the little cat away from her forearm, she lumbered off to the bathroom. A series of pathetic and increasingly louder mewls followed her when she shut the door with the feline on the other side.… Read the rest

Find me at The Literal Mom

Posted on by February 25, 2020

Hey everybody, Missy over at The Literal Mom invited me to do a guest post today, and you can find out some more about our family vacation/reunion by clicking the picture below! Thanks to Missy for letting me participate in her Good Old Fashioned Summer!

… Read the rest

Long time coming

Posted on by February 25, 2020

Reverend George Lee
Once upon a time, a girl was born. Let’s call her Mary.
Lamar Smith
Mary was born in a small house, and there was no electricity.
Emmett Louis Till
Some nights, when she was little, she and her mother blew out the candles and hid under the bed.
John Earl Reese
And some nights, her father hid with them.
Willie Edwards, Jr.
But other nights, her father sat on the porch and whispered, “I dare you, I dare you, I dare you bastards.”
Mack Charles Parker
One night, her father didn’t come back in, and the next day, Mary and her mother moved into town.… Read the rest

The difference between typing and writing

Posted on by February 25, 2020

I have told this before. And I think I will repeat it until the end of my life, until it stops haunting me. In grad school, I lost my writing. I felt it drain out of me one idea after another.

I wrote a story, something about police and cats, and I couldn’t feel the next one there behind it. It wasn’t writer’s block. I wasn’t stuck. I had loads of words floating around in my tank. But I had no more stories at all. For four years, I stopped being a writer.

I’m good at the butt-in-chair thing. Always have been.… Read the rest

Method of Entry

Posted on by February 25, 2020

“Why do you want to borrow my collective’s tunneler. And what makes you think I’d give it to you?”  Jay Harris stood in front of me in the middle of the sidewalk.

“So I can kill Leonard Grady.”

“Jesus!” Jay flinched like I’d just shot him. “What did he do to you? Why would I help you out? And now we’ve been seen out walking in public…”

“You talk like I’m going to get caught, Jay. I’m not.” I squared around to face him. “Leonard killed Maggie.” I tried to keep my inflection flat. I wanted him to think I could keep my emotions together.… Read the rest

Inviting water

Posted on by February 25, 2020

Anna said, “I’m sorry, Mom.” She looked out the kitchen window towards the traitorous pool, where she would not be swimming today, after all.

“I just wish you’d told me sooner.” Kaya drank her herbal tea slowly. She pushed a second cup towards Anna, who didn’t touch it.

Then Anna got up. She meant to leave, but instead, she grabbed her swim cover up off the back of her mother’s chair. She wasn’t cold, but she felt naked. The bikini had been ill advised.

Kaya set down her mug and rubbed her own temples. “There would have been more we could have done about it then.”… Read the rest

Operation Mockingbird

Posted on by February 25, 2020

On the fourth, against our better judgment, we took our kids to the ball game, which was followed by fireworks. It was OK. We were right behind the home dugout, and a ball that the players were throwing around before the start of an inning flew over the wall and under our seat. Sam got it. Caroline had found a new friend and had stolen the Dad’s s seat to sit with the family. When she got back and realized she had missed a ball opportunity, she was hysterical. That combined with the total sensory overload (and this was BEFORE the fireworks) produced a total meltdown.… Read the rest

Lady or the tiger

Posted on by February 25, 2020

“Too bad they’re extinct.”  Rodney and Shara looked down on the electronic tigers. Shara traced her fingers along the glass, ignoring the little robot that was already descending to annoy away her hand and clean the places she had touched.

“They look so real,” said Rodney. “But I don’t think I would want to meet one of those on the street.”

“They didn’t play on the street.”

“You know what I mean. If I saw one of those things outside of a zoo, I’d run so fast I’d leave my pants behind me .”

Normally, Shara laughed at Rodney’s absurd descriptions.… Read the rest

Bad Break

Posted on by February 25, 2020

Michael and Aura shacked up for six weeks in the seventies, but after a month of constant bickering, they made it to splitsville well before the altar. Michael was a poet. Aura was an accountant. Nobody was surprised.

After that, they were off-again-on-again during the eighties, until Aura married a guitar player and Michael tried to kill himself. They hardly spoke for twenty years. Then, they met at a New Year’s party and Aura reignited Michael’s flame with a drunken mistletoe kiss. Michael had been taking Prozac to cool the burning in his chest that was slowly drying up his heart.… Read the rest

Desk Job

Posted on by February 25, 2020

Jordy said, “She’s got a ten a.m. or a three p.m. next Wednesday.”

The woman on the phone said, “I guess the three o’clock then. I’ll see if my sister can take the kids for an hour.”

“OK, if not, just give us a call, and we’ll set you up for another time.”

Jordy had stopped offering to hang out with people’s children. His Mom’s clients were uncomfortable leaving their kids with a teen boy. It didn’t matter that the shop only had two rooms and a bathroom or that his Mom could crack the door so the clients always had access to everything that went on.… Read the rest