As a bitter smile distorted her lovely face, she informed one new friend that her ex had been painfully easy to read.
Should she somehow displease him–by, for example, saying something he did not like–her lip would suddenly split and she’d be treated to the familiar taste of her own blood.
Had Him at Goodbye
He offered her nothing.
She returned it.
How you should apologize to people
Sound travels at fast speed, buzzing and killing my silence. But my body is unaware of it, my soul is weak and I have no answer to give you.
Recognising Other Creatures’ Right to Feed
He did not fight the crocodile when it latched onto his leg and dragged him underwater. He did not believe he had the right to deprive the hungry beast from its meal.
The Side Effects of Having Kids
The Side Effects of Having Kids
After a night of drinking with friends, Brad—the only father at the table—scratched his balls and announced he had to go “potty”. The hooker never took his phone number.
Seismogram
The woman rummaged through her handbag, her husband was ruggedly handsome, the heat was stifling, the crowd was buzzing with anticipation. The show was about to begin when a clumsy and unironical earthquake convulsed massively and in the atmosphere of sudden pain no one said anything unnecessary
Sex
What, my dear, is an act so calmly chanced upon, as when two travelers, not long in searching, find themselves already upon the cobbles of the searched for street, and everyone about his business, polite but unheralding (let the easy simile stand, my dear, it’s perfect), we both touched by a bit of drink, sure of ourselves, and bunkered against the lacerating half-frozen rain outside the curtained window, hissing at us, the rain, that to do anything else would be a provocation to its malice, and yes, my dear, we in love, in love and assuming, wrongly, that this was but one in an infinite series? Merely a question answered.
The Racist
He hated his shadow. Because it was black.
She left this Morning
‘Don’t go’ I said. ‘Too late.’ she replied ‘I’m already gone.’
Shot Down
Dreams aren’t like that. Please come home.
Call of Duty
Your mind is up for auction. Who will win the battle – I mean – bidding.
Shimmery Bright
The world is beautiful with tears in my eyes. What could it be without?
The Awakening
He wakes with a terrible hangover and is nearly sickened when he discovers, lying opposite him at the foot of the bed, the now horribly ugly creature he believes he had sex with during the night. On further inspection he realizes it is his own reflection he sees in the mirrored wall.
Time and Time Again
The time travel exposé would air at noon. And again at eleven.
That one time
Ashamed, the man looked away.
Stoically, the woman replied, “Well, we both know what you have to do now, don’t we?”
Faux Pas
“It’s as plain as the nose on your face!” she shouted in a heated moment. She didn’t look up to see that he was a war veteran who’d lost his.
Story of Life
A story can be told pages, in years, in a breath, in a gesture, or even a single look. In this case, it takes two sentences.
Weak Expectations
I ran after you, laughed at your jokes, sat next to you in class. Then, you turned to me and said hello and all interest was lost.
The science test
Diana looked up from her biology homework to stare at her mother, tears welling up in her bright green eyes. “Your eyes are blue and Dad’s are brown, so who in the hell’s my real father?”
A Teacher’s Mistake
Stricken by a sudden surge of carelessly uncalculated compassion, she allows her hand to crawl from the open pages of his history book to the now-developed ridges of his right arm. He smells the lavender fragrance of her long, blonde hair and it is not long before the media arrives in their howling chariots, handing out shovels for the community to bury them alive beneath the thick, boiling tar of shame and half-truths.