“Did you know that when you live in a warm climate, like in Phoenix, you lose track of years? You know, like you don’t have the weather reference like you do in Chicago,” Christina mentioned after the customer left. “I know that I got my dog in high school in the winter because it was [...]
Christina rubbed the red lipstick off her teeth and smiled into the mirror. She glanced over her appearance and smoothed her straight blonde hair. Round brown eyes gazed back. She smiled again into the mirror and then growled. The lipstick had stained her front teeth again. She reached for a brown paper towel and rubbed [...]
“Jim, how long do you plan on lying here feeling sorry for yourself?” Jim’s mother got up from the side of his bed and opened the curtains. She turned the television off and then tugged at the bottom of her jean jacket. “It’s been a week. I would think that you would be relieved, not [...]
Jim was sitting at his desk on the showroom floor checking personal email. He started chuckling at a ridiculous email about men and women. When it came to men and women, the men seemed to be the butt of the jokes. Shelly had sent him the joke and knew if the tables were turned, she [...]
My mother mentioned that my ex-boyfriend from high school, Doug, had a surprise birthday party planned for him the next weekend. Doug had been my first love. We dated for two years, until we graduated high school and moved off to college. He picked a college a couple states away that specialized in engineering. I [...]
I left work a couple hours later than usual. My boss asked me to stay to finish a project that he, in his round about ways, blamed me for the inconsistencies. I blamed him. He stayed late to avoid his kids and wife, and he dragged me into it. They paid me well and I [...]
“You okay? Can you stand up?” A man in uniform had opened Meg’s car door. He knelt down beside her. “Are you hurt?” “I don’t think so,” Meg huffed. Meg’s sobs had stopped but she hadn’t caught her breath. “My baby . . .” She turned to look in the backseat and took a few [...]
“Look mommy, it’s short and fat!” Caleb was a normal 4-year-old, curious and observant about all things, especially animals. “No honey, the giraffe is tall and skinny,” his mother, Meg, shook her head, exhausted about trying to correct the way that Caleb saw things. “See look at those wild boars, they’re short and fat!” “They’re [...]
A vampire walked into a coffee shop and ordered a no-frills, straight black coffee. Room for cream? No. He turned, looking around the room. It was packed and the pop rock songs were barely audible above the voices. He sat at a small table in a tight corner by the window and picked up the [...]
