Most discussed stories

Lester Young, Grand Daddy of Cool

10051005 views22 comments11 fav

Young is credited with the first use of “cool” as a expression of approval, and he embodied the concept in his life and in his playing. His only problem was he was born too soon, in 1909.

Life Sentence

977977 views22 comments00 favs

“I believe it is some form of primitive recreation with a board and wheels,” the one and a half eyed orange blob said with an Australian accent.

Psychics or Ouija Boards - Who Ya Gonna Call?

12121212 views22 comments22 favs

Madame B would come once a week and tell me things that I needed to know in exchange for some free items. She would come and grasp my hand while telling me the same thing week after week. Madame B always told me to relax and things would eventually come.

Bad Boys

916916 views22 comments11 fav

Her name was Carrie. And yes, it was love at first sight. Yes, she was a client, and you were supposed to keep your hands off the clients. Everyone in real estate knew that. She came into my office and took a seat in the reception area. I had a listin

Journey to Malta, from the novel "Grok"

17891789 views22 comments00 favs

The journey to Malta would take almost four days. Both men, with knapsacks and sleeping bags on their backs, stepped eagerly onto the train in Zürich. A whistle blew and they were off. In his knapsack, Grok had brought pictures of his family

porcelain

957957 views22 comments00 favs

And then, like all those nights before, she just fell asleep seducing me.

Cat crunch

10761076 views22 comments00 favs

I barely scraped the sleep out of my eyes when I heard the shrill crying from outside the kitchen window, and I recalled one of the many reasons cats can't be trusted. You see, they're evolutionarily wired to imitate the sound of a crying human baby, so when they…

Shim

13431343 views22 comments22 favs

better than being dead

A Silent Scream

16261626 views22 comments22 favs

She hated the noiseless dying sound they made as he stuck the hook through their eyes. She always wanted for them to scream, but they never did. They didn’t even blink.

I, Betty Crocker

12201220 views22 comments11 fav

I was born at the age of 42. Some of you might regard that as a handicap, but at the time I assumed everyone was born fully grown in a corporate test kitchen. In fact, I still think of it as an advantage; like being born with a silver spoon in my hand.

Short Blonde, Long Red

631631 views22 comments22 favs

Natalie blushed the vodka with an almost pointless twist of the fruit juice as I fought in my inside jacket pocket for my wallet...

Aria

15951595 views22 comments11 fav

It will only be minutes before I can slip out of this shelter, but time has suspended itself like a web over the sky. I look up and see a break in the clouds moving north from the furthest tip of Lake Erie. Rain turns to drizzle, other guests arrive toget

Catching Forks

13411341 views22 comments11 fav

Last night Jim taught me how to catch forks. Meaning, he taught me how to throw them. But he called it catching forks. It was late, and we were low down 3rd street, south of the Bay Bridge, the baseball stadium, all the people and cars, on top of a warehouse. There were a…

Autumn

11771177 views22 comments11 fav

I have never known how gold this time of year, With its palladium arcade, was, of the trees That do not sense the pleasure of their silence; Trees are egalitarian, they do not speak But concourse among themselves, consent to join us At this moment breathing…

Extract from my Fantasy book

10531053 views22 comments11 fav

Lucien ran through a burning vortex in desperation ignoring the cries of his friend. It was a flux of Satanic majesty. The floodlight of the fire was incredibly grim, but it did not hurt his eyes. Have you ever seen painted glass windows in a cathedral built by the…

All Seeing

14101410 views22 comments22 favs

Our Core Values define evil as the concealment of information. And those who conceal information are evil.

The Glass Bowl

10571057 views22 comments22 favs

I caught a fragment of a charged argument as I passed them. The young man said, “Well, I am talking about love.” And the young woman with equal volume checkmated with, “Well, I am talking about money.” Though their lives were none of my business, this exc

Aluminum Canoe

12491249 views22 comments00 favs

"Don't stab me with that," says John.

The Sticking Point

10491049 views22 comments22 favs

I felt dark, dark...

The Big Cross

19521952 views22 comments11 fav

I hope you and asshole are having a good time.

All Wet

11631163 views22 comments22 favs

the small break of consciousness that is my dreamswaterso much wateri can never forgive the watertoo many tears

Splitting

851851 views22 comments22 favs

The promise felt heavy in my chest, made it difficult to breath. It was scary to set out to change something that felt so engrained into my own wiring, in my ability to survive & cope in the world.

A Night at the Plywood Palace

23572357 views22 comments11 fav

You find a wall to lie down against and focus your eyes on an orange light. You no longer hear any music. You are lying down at the bottom of a dark, green, filthy pool, holding your breath and looking up at the sun.

Measures

12361236 views22 comments00 favs

Pascal would let something slip now and then. He was sharp and spoke excellent English, with a beautiful Spanish accent. He corrected speech among the guys, but he exercised his lessons in grammar with an eloquence that fascinated all of us, not letting a

The Echoes of Infinity

13121312 views22 comments22 favs

Marilyn turned the kayak away from the target ship, barely visible after all these years, toward the shallow waters by the shore. She recalled her father holding her hand at low tide, as she looked up at him and he told her…

Poet's Offer to Help Grieving Goes Unheeded

12271227 views22 comments22 favs

Remembering you is easy We do it every day, When little Mike and Joey Ask when the hell is Daddy ever coming home to play?

Suicide Machines

16281628 views22 comments33 favs

["Mea Culpa" means: I don't care what you think, sorry is when I feel like making you hear me say it.]

The Ghost's Tale

986986 views22 comments33 favs

Don’t worry, she said It’s not blonde down there But she is wrong It’s just as blonde down there As anywhere The light down along her arms For instance The down along her cheek On the back of her neck Her thighs Apparently I am n

Changes Are

949949 views22 comments11 fav

When people drastically change everything about themselves repeatedly, don't they eventually just end up alienating everyone?

Glance

16101610 views22 comments11 fav

I saw a former lover today, by complete accident.