I received a text from an anonymous number, and when I read it, it said:
“What’s your name, little girl? I’d like to know who I’m looking at.”
Matters of the Heart
My ex-husband told me that he would steal my heart again.
It now sits in a jar on his nightstand.
Her Mother
My five year old daughter asks her mother to read her a bedtime story every night.
Her mother died five years ago in childbirth.
Patriot
Three men, total strangers to each other, sat in the buffet-car of the Bangkok express as it hurtled through the night toward Kuala Lumpur.
“Looks pretty good, doesn’t it?” One of the men, an Englishman, waved his hand towards the silver-washed jungle as the Frenchman nodded in agreement and only the Australian remained silent, confident and knowing.
Black Listed
It was the second leg after a 36 hour layover. We hit it off straight away, laughing raucously, as the flight attendant kept bringing us free wine.
I smiled as I watched the lady scold herself for being so scared when that stupid black cat had jumped in front of her in that dark alley. That smile turned into a grin when I realized she hadn’t noticed me standing right behind her.
Monsters in the closet
“Dad, there are monsters in my closet!” He replies, “I know, son.”
Truth is more horrific than fiction
Most girls first memories are of being given a bottle, or rocked to sleep.
Mine is of being raped.
Peter None
I was dancing in the studio alone, practicing Wendy’s part for our upcoming school play, when the music suddenly stopped. I was about to fix the sound system when I noticed that a dark shadow continued to dance just beside my reflection in the mirror, which surely wasn’t Peter Pan’s.
Well, you are…
They say you are what you eat. According to his driver’s license, I’m now Virginia Resident ‘John Tuckett’.
A Lotta Heart
They always said she had a big heart. It’s true, I can’t fit my hand around the damn thing.
Kidding Aside
“Wow, your kid’s all grown up!” I said smiling and waving at the little girl who was grinning at me from the sofa. My friend, who I have not visited for years and who suddenly looked like she had a stiff neck, carefully asked me, “You see her, too?”
The Worst Prank
When the basketball team I’ve placed a $100 bet on won in the last minute of the game, I jumped out of my seat in celebration and chest-bumped my best buddy who was also rejoicing beside me.
Realizing what just happened, I abruptly stopped smiling and gaped at my late prankster of a friend who exclaimed, “I finally got you, man! You thought I was still alive, didn’t you?”
The Plea
The little girl kept on crying, pleading and muttering, “I don’t wanna die, please, I don’t wanna die…”
I sighed at the sight of her and wondered how to let her know it’s already too late.
GIFs
One night, I received an email of a cartoon GIF with an animated boy crying and tearing blood.
As I was just about to delete the email, I noticed little drops of blood on my keyboard.
Confession
I closed the door, knelt, and said, “Forgive me father, for I have sinned.” He slid the screen aside and reached through the opening as he told me that there is no heaven.
Finger Lickin’ Good
“Now add the ladies’ fingers into the broth,” ordered Helga.
“Sure,” I answered, “shall I drain the blood first?”
Happy Birthday
On the night of my son’s fifth birthday, the government men silently carried their equipment into his bedroom. Reminding myself that this was necessary, I placed a shaking hand over my mutilated face and discovered that the thirty-two-year-old crater where my right eye used to be was still capable of producing tears.
Conscience
“I have to stop her,” I thought as my fingers closed on the handle of the kitchen knife and I started walking towards my sleeping parents’ room. And yet no matter how hard I tried, my body could only listen to the shrilling voice of its’ murderous new owner.
CUT IT
Last night, I was cutting onions in the kitchen when an onion bulb rolled down and under the kitchen counter. I lazily slumped on the floor and stretched my right arm to get the onion only to find myself holding a piece of my left thumb covered in my own blood.