Trifecta wants us to talk about one object with three uses this weekend. Come play with us. Or cross my palm with silver. Whichever.
… Read the rest“Put down that phone.” Casey stood between the bedroom and hall. She was naked. “I am not having this baby in a …” she groaned. “Count me!” she ordered.
Darron scrambled for his watch and its handy stopwatch feature. Casey leaned into the doorframe, and he drew careful circles on her back while he counted the seconds to the contraction’s peak.… Read the rest
“When?” Charles, the bartender made a great show of drawing up a beer.
“It’ll break Wednesday.”
“Right.”
Charles moved away without ever meeting his patron’s eyes. This was important. It was his role as the front to take the magic knowledge to the bookies. All the bookies knew Charlie had a source. But nobody suspected drunk old Nate in the corner. Which was just exactly how both Charles and Nate wanted things to remain. Nate drank at this bar every night, and he made sure to leave sloppy drunk at least twice a week , or at least to look like it.… Read the rest
“Take her with you then, I don’t care.”
“I will! She’ll be safer!”
Lacey kicked back and forth from end to end. The air outside was frigid, but it was still warmer than the air in the kitchen between her parents.… Read the rest
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This weekend, Trifecta has asked us to write a new fable in just 33 words. Mr. Aesop and I have never been on what you would call close terms. So I’m afraid I took advantage of my fable to thumb my nose at him.
… Read the rest“Some of the guys came over last night when you were at work,” yelled his roommate Ray.
Shawn snarled, “You owe me for three cases of beer,” and drove down to the corner store to undo the damage.
When he got back, Ray said, “You’d give yourself alcohol poisoning if you drank all that.”
Shawn found yesterday’s empties stored in plastic garbage bags in the corner of the garage. They hadn’t even bothered to crush them.… Read the rest
Eva rounded the corner and Diana followed, leaving the door wide open behind her. “Come back here, young lady!”
Eva did not come back. She actually picked up speed even though the sidewalks wore a thin crust of ice. Hardly anybody was out to watch the mother pursue her daughter down the road.
Suddenly, Eva’s arm shot up.… Read the rest
She didn’t have much use for poker. When he went off to his tournaments and to the casinos, she would look in at the cook on duty and shake her head.… Read the rest
“It’s gone mad,” she sobbed.
“Yes, ma’am. That happens to some of the older models. They forget that they aren’t in the war any longer. Just be glad it has a hose up that trunk. Ten years ago, those would have been bullets.”
“But what do I do? It’s trampled the marigolds, soaked the African Violets, knocked down the fence, and run away!”
“Yes, ma’am. We’ve dispatched a disposal team to your location. They should arrive within forty five minutes.”
“In forty five minutes, that thing will be halfway to the interstate.… Read the rest
The road manager was puking in the public bathroom.
She had been backstage, keeping an eye on things, watching out for security hassles. And then she urgently needed air that didn’t taste stale.
Those are (almost word for word) the first 33 words of my novel Divorce: A Love Story. And if you want to read the other 73,000 or so of them, you can always buy it in the links in my sidebar. (It’s an e-book. It’s $3, and you can read it on your PC. Kindle and Nook both have features that allow you to enjoy e-books without an e-reader.)… Read the rest