Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling 8 min in Parkdale, TO “Damn girl, I don’t need no sugar after seeing that smile of yours.” Carolyn blinked her bangs out of her eyes as she stirred the liquid sugar into her latte. The condiment counter was tiny and she was self-conscious about taking too much time. Her shy smile was a reflex but Carolyn let the smile stay. He had nice green eyes Read more
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston 8 min @ Lit espresso bar, Roncesvalles He thought of overcharging her. It had been a long time since anyone sent a fax. “How many pages?” he stalled. “One.” He watched her eyes take inventory of the handmade signs behind him. The prices of current popular products were listed: Bed BuG spray 9.99, after BITE 3,99, racoon lock 7.99. He remembered the price list for faxing Read more
Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges 8 min @ Farenheit A nickel sized circle of brown bliss sat at the bottom of the cup. Chloe had stopped herself from draining the cup because she didn’t want the delicious moment to end. It was her first Turkish coffee. It was good, but that’s not what made the moment so precious. It was his kindness and attention, his shy but direct appeal to let him create something special Read more
Crash by J.G. Ballard 8 min in Parkdale, TO The Englishman was being a twat. Madhu loved the word ‘twat’, it was a perfect marriage of sound and meaning. Madhu could tell the Englishman was lying to his wife. In his five years driving cab he had learned a lot about how people communicated in his second language. He could tell that the Englishman wasn’t listening to what the wife was saying, and like Read more
I’m house sitting a dear pal’s loft while he and his family sup and sip their way through the south of France. He’s lived here for twenty years and everywhere the eye lands tells a story from his life. He has lived an interesting life. Interesting people tend to do that. I’m always curious about what people read, so I immediately began perusing the books. The bookshelf reveals our secret self, or presents a carefully edited Read more
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky 8 min @ Sorauren Parkette for Sonia H. Someone told me that the little orbs of light in photos means a spirit was present when the photo was taken. I took a photo of a cemetery at night just to see how many orbs came out. There weren’t that many but they were all different sizes. I guess just like people, some spirits are bigger spirited than others. Every year on Read more
1000 Places To See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz 8 min @ Sorauren parkette There was something untethered about Ruth. She never seemed fully present. Angella said it was because of her one off-centered eye. She had those eyes that you never knew which one to look into so you just kind of looked at the edges of her. But Ruth had no edges, she was kind and amorphous. She blended into the space around her. Read more
my settings are off. there’s been a universal shift, imperceptible to the eye. random passersby are oblivious. even acquaintances remain unknowing until i verbalize the details in answer to “what’s new?”. is it still new? it’s three wednesdays since his last breath. is that a lot of time or a little? ah, the relativity of time… as it passes it shifts, and it can only become relatively smaller and smaller as time passes. Read more