Imagine ink flowing onto paper. So softly, the particles spread from the golden tip, creating the words that corrupt and consume my brain. The words that I can’t allow myself to say out loud and the words that could never be shared. Not all thoughts are meant to be said out loud, so keep it […]
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“She kisses a man over coffee.” The black metal square usually contained a mishmash of the little magnetic words. But Julie had arranged these at the top, flush left, and pushed the rest into a brick wall at the bottom. She was so proud of her six words. She liked to visit me at the […]
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I was 10 years old when I first took a dip in creative writing; except at the time, I didn’t know it yet. I read a script written by a 6th grader in my school about mermaids and forbidden love and the like, and I thought, “I want to do that, too.” So I did. I […]
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Somewhere between flattery and glorification, I watched the shell of a coconut, a strong, resistant, carefully fronted facade break open to reveal a tender vulnerability, clinging on to a resilient shell of grandeur and hardiness– a tender vulnerability that offered a delightful sweetness that reminded consumers of the bliss that followed blood and sweat. Somewhere […]
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There will come a day when you slip, when, despite your best efforts, the alligators in your head will break through. It’s nothing momentous, you just tell yourself that “I deserve a treat” or “I’m too tired to go to school today.” It’s a tiny thing, insignificant at the time. But when retrospect kicks in, […]
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My skin bakes beneath my clothes. Dusty dry ground crackles beneath our feet. There is a low humming of bugs, and I know that I’ll return home with more than a few red dots blemishing my flesh. My mind buzzes along with the insects. It’s a live wire near a puddle left over from the […]
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9:46AM For a Quiet Carriage there is a surprising number of yobs behind me, chattering and screeching away like a family of chimps. From what I can gather, the guy behind me (we shall call him Gareth) is a budding actor who is on his way to an audition in London. His clarion voice is […]
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When I decided to major in English in college, I was met with skepticism from people who didn’t know me very well or who didn’t know much about the field. “Are you planning to become a teacher?” many people asked. If I were hoping to obtain a license to teach in Massachusetts, I’d have to major in […]
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What first got my attention was the way he held himself. He was at ease in his own skin, the way I never was. He always knew what to say, and just how to say it… He’d set butterflies loose in my stomach constantly. All the while, never knowing. He never paid much attention to […]
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