Most read stories

Cat On A Hot Tin Roof

15231523 views99 comments22 favs

Cat's ass was on fire. The roof was scorching hot. Her clothes were in a pile by the door that led to the roof. She was sitting next to the ventilation duct, her hands outstretched behind her, her knees bent before her. Jim was standing in front of…

after

15231523 views1515 comments1010 favs

when the mirror cracks my eyes won't cry it's a perfectly respectable (romance) between her and i

Black Ribbon

15231523 views11 comment11 fav

The highway stretches out in front of me, a black ribbon winding into the future; a collapsing probability of possibility connecting me with the past and through it to the future.

An Obituary of Comedy: The Life and Times of Munnu Shahbaz Kalandar Khan

15231523 views00 comments00 favs

Sir Reginald Lionel Windsworth described the match in Englishmen's Lahore Gazette as, "A plethora of mistakes and complete absence of human sense."

Nadja on Nadja -- an excerpt

15231523 views88 comments33 favs

"I would like my pictures to look as if a human being had passed between them, like a snail, leaving a trail of the human presence, memory trace of past events, as the snail leaves its slime." Francis bacon “Feminine …

Jimmy and the Ark

15231523 views1414 comments88 favs

Yes, he'll be quiet. Very quiet. He rocks himself, the ark, suddenly imagining water underneath him, over head, all around. Water, water, water—

Killing Hope

15231523 views33 comments22 favs

Hope was beauty before I even knew what beauty was with her golden pigtails, brilliant blue eyes and an infectious smile — even after Jamie Delano flung his Frisbee, knocking out Hope’s two front teeth.

Shutter

15221522 views11 comment11 fav

Background foreground life in the middle

Five Million Yen: Chapter 5

15221522 views11 comment11 fav

Then he took the tune out to Ben Clarone land. The horn was beautiful, if leaky. His fingers flew over the keys.

Last Call

15221522 views11 comment11 fav

It’s last call for the Class of 2001, their five-year reunion drawing to a close, and Brenner, in his standard t-shirt and holey jeans, has just arrived.

What you're waiting for.

15221522 views00 comments00 favs

I figure maybe I’m mostly alone; they are all running down staircases or falling down fire escapes, some of them naked, some of them with towels, mostly probably naked though.

Working things out in my head

15221522 views22 comments00 favs

A shot in the dark and everything goes black. It's as if the story never happened.

Cooperman

15221522 views44 comments33 favs

Unconsciously she shook her head at her own weakness in coming out to see Wayne when things were in shambles at home. Guilt had beat resolve in the cosmic game of rock paper scissors.

After: An All American, Post 9-11 Love Poem

15221522 views11 comment33 favs

After he got on one knee, and she said, I do. After they watched the televised bombs disappear the city. After everyone fell asleep. After shock and awe, him and her making love…

The Canoeist's Luncheon. Renoir

15221522 views00 comments00 favs

The artist leans back in his chair, smoking a cigarette after lunch, looking away from the table toward the right He is dressed in white, and he's practically stretched out his entire length, to relax after rowing the boat all morning. Sunlight

Flop-Flip

15221522 views44 comments00 favs

Little stuff at first: mistaking their dog for a cat, attempting to start the car with a bar of soap, or using a newspaper to dry the dishes. Lately, he’d been slipping: calling her by his mother’s name during sex, berating his boss for lackluster profit

Two Different Worlds

15221522 views66 comments55 favs

The boy was sure of something,She was just the one. The girl was sure of nothing, Her life had just begun. For him, he'd found his partner, There was never any doubt. For her, he was fine for now, But there was more to learn about. He thought it was a perfect…

The Celebrity

15221522 views88 comments99 favs

Mr. Blumberg and I sat side by side on a small couch in the family room. He was watching a football game on TV.

Give Tongue

15221522 views77 comments22 favs

"Penning a slight of tongue well versed or worse, a salacious lie..."

Passion vs. Security

15221522 views77 comments77 favs

They blew in the doorway of the café at the French Hotel like two sparrows chasing each other. Their wings down in the dust, unheeding any danger in their hunger for each other. I knew the man who was about to become her husband, so maybe this was her las

" I Know Bernie, I Can Get You In."

15221522 views44 comments44 favs

* Dedicated to Bernie MaddoffThere was a long line at the men's room.You know,when men reach a certain age,there is an urgencyto their frequent trips.So I saw an opportunityI said:" I know Bernie I can get you in.""Really?," they saidbut I played it coy"It ain't easyBernie…

Six Ways to Say Butterfly

15221522 views22 comments11 fav

He repeated these six words like a prayer. His only confession.

Help From The Sunrise

15221522 views88 comments55 favs

Ellen arrived on the beach when it was still too dark to see the ground; the fine shells and small, sharp rocks hurt her feet, but she went ahead until her toes felt the edge…

Ashes (for RC)

15221522 views11 comment00 favs

Floating along the ebbs of the ocean,toward the horizon, where time has no say,an end that will never be reached.

Navigation and Perseverance

15221522 views44 comments44 favs

“Gladys Miller!” the dog shouted. “Live a little. TiVo it.”

A Game of Dodge Ball

15211521 views22 comments22 favs

Mo Dean woke up sober. And tired. Tired of life, of soiled pants, rash, vomit, and whiskey sweat. Tired of holes in his pockets and blisters on his feet, of hanging signs asking for dimes and getting only pennies. And most of all, tired of the police.

Good Morning

15211521 views66 comments44 favs

Sleep never fades away quickly. It has to be shaken off, layer by layer, before reality can reach you. That is the way every morning works for me. There are some days when I will sit at the edge of my bed for almost an hour, shedding remnants of dreams

Wanderer

15211521 views66 comments33 favs

There’s an unending parade of drifters, outlaws and crazies and I always have to watch my back, but, then again, that’s nothing new.

The Scenes Speak for Themslves

15211521 views00 comments00 favs

We are the images, the tableau vivant, the one-person shows, the scenes from scattered plays. We wait for the Caretaker who prompts us to play and replay one by one on her rounds.

a supermarket horror story

15211521 views22 comments22 favs

stoned,/ i made the mistake/ of walking to the store across the busy street/ to find myself in the middle/ of the pep-up/ for a basketball game/ or something like that.