It is 10:40 am, I’m sitting cross-legged in the middle of my mat and there is a block on either side of me. I’m quite proud of myself for even being here, I’ve made it to exactly three 10 am classes this year. Mornings aren’t my thing. I swing my legs forward and put my hands on the blocks. The instructor is telling us what we’re going to do after four resting breaths but he’s Read more
“Hey.” I have the coolest big sister out of all my friends. It’s not just because she has a verse of The Raven tattooed along the inner fingers of her left hand. She talks to me about everything and tells me I can ask her anything, anything at all. She wants me to have all the social advantages she did not. “Hey.” I know she’s come to my room to ask me about The Bullet. Read more
Jeremy loathed these visits with his old aunt Violet. They always started like this, the endless questions that never evolved into an actual conversation. (What is going on with your hair? Are you still chewing on your fingernails? Are you trying out for the tennis team? ) And it was understood that the questions only flowed one way, anything outside of the standard health and weather inquiries were strictly forbidden. But this was the burden Read more
“You know it’s been like five days,” she paused to give him entry to the conversation but as always he misses the cue. Her stare is a silent but pointed prod. Emerald irises shrink as her pupils expand at high-speed. Her eyes have always transfixed him, they shift so quickly like a crazy cartoon cat. “Do you want to break up?” She cuts to the chase since the conversation is going nowhere. “No” he says. Read more
Troy always picked the place. Even if he was joining after the meal, Troy always picked the place when they came to visit. Joanna had tried to convince her parents to let her choose but no, Troy was the expert. He’d lived in the city for five years and as her mother told every single person she knew or met, he’s a professional traveler. He was a freaking flight attendant and anyone with wi-fi could Read more
Irma was as bitter as she was ugly. Neither were her fault. Irma was the unfortunate second twin. There were a lot of twins in the family; a set in every branch of the tree. Being a twin in and of itself was nothing special, but if you were the first twin, you were literally a born winner. Irma was forty-two and had never won at anything in her life, which may not say much Read more
Benny decided to leave the car. He’d have to come back early and get it, early as in before the street sweepers came. Not that they ever came right at 8am, but the ticket police sure as heck were timely with their citations. Benny decided to leave the car because he needed to walk off the horrid combination of beer, bourbon, wings with suicide sauce, fries with cheese gravy – the Canadian kid said they Read more
There was no question this Gene was doing a good thing. Fuck the puppy mills. Why does my best friend have to be a pure breed? I had to convince Clea because she had her heart set on a pug. “How superficial do you want to prove you are? If your dog is saving your miserable ass from depression the least you could do is save his life in return.” There were a kajillion studies Read more