2224 16 13
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The boy giggled, splashing his father and howling at the cold.
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222464
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Our banter has shifted, like wading from the shallow to the deep end. He taps his foot. “Your underwear reminded me of my grandma’s underwear.”
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22241911
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Her bulldozer of a husband died five years ago.
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222200
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To his astonishment, he discovered Maggie curled up inside the Maytag dryer, head down, shoulders hunched over.
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22213215
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Maybe the thing is over by now. They have gathered up all the pictures and mementos of our dad’s life and hauled them away.
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222100
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My half-brother Salvy laughs each time we meet here at the hospital to visit our father Phil, who has lung cancer. He laughs because Phil married my mother, not his. He laughs at my job in Valhalla, the final resting place for those who lose at the…
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222198
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bullet points about her soul
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222193
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I used to sneak away to my bedroom to write. I would get away any chance I could to jot down on paper my stories, my ideas, the rich stream of goodness that sprang from my little baby creative brain. It was pure joy.
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222021
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I walked her home.
She lived eight blocks in the opposite direction of me,
but it made her smile
—I made her smile.
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2220269
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So they told him he better get ready to join the army because that’s where it was at, for him. After all, not everybody could split coconuts with their hands.
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2220149
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She doesn't even know who wears the Adam's apple in this house.
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221712
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Yesterday, I ripped off Dollar General. Today my baby died. Tomorrow I will file a lawsuit. After all, someone has to pay.
|
22175619
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An ice block heart
rushed home to the beat of its melt.
|
221612
|
The Army Corps of Engineers spent $92,000 in federal stimulus money on costumes for mascots such as Bobber the Water Safety Dog.
|
221500
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Why, I tell you, one run through that song, I’m always about to find my way out. But if this happens just two more times now, I tell you, I am going to go out and start something. You can’t treat a man like this. Even if he is smaller, like me. Why, I
|
221543
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The abandoned body got up and left the room. It was just in time to greet his wife and daughter, who were just coming in the front door.
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221564
|
|
221542
|
China refuses them politely,
politely in that Communist way
of saying without saying.
|
221460
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The boy peered at the rather unusual place between the girl’s legs, which was entirely more complicated than a person might be given to believe should he see it, for example, bundled in underpants or a bathing suit.
|
22142617
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My wife tells me I should marry Pam. “She would be good for you,” she says.
|
2213179
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I don't know what happened to all the men. Used to wonder if they killed them all.
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22132315
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I blame it all on evil humors. Something's leaking.
|
221177
|
One of the pieces, I noticed, had the real shape of a miniature chicken, its mohawk, pin legs, and small definition of wing. “Look at that,” I said to my friend. And just then, the wing twitched.
|
2211239
|
"Bit of a shrinkage situation."
|
22102116
|
Mark Strandover decadesa steady diet of dictionenlarged his heartone day it just burstRobert Frosta crazy ideathat he couldbuild a wallwithout mortar tookpossession of his mindhe piled stoneon stone higherand higher untilthey toppled overcrushing him beneath Wilfred…
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22102317
|
Death came to my street, but I did not invite him.
|
22102716
|
"A prostitute of the Hotel Khadijah in Rahab fell in love with my father...."
|
220954
|
When she was eleven, Margaret still believed in mermaids. She would fasten the neon diving rings that her mother gave her to her ankles and swim around in the pool for hours. By the end of the afternoon, with chlorine-swollen skin she would wince as she…
|
220851
|
Silent Murf was largely toothless, and the gaze from his eyes diverged in opposing directions; his skinny arms were a fancywork of jailhouse tattoos and what appeared to be scabbed-over claw marks.
|
220840
|
Why am I attracted to this girl?
She’s beautiful. Only five foot four, but still looks skyscraper tall thanks to those skinny greyhound legs of hers. She told me she used to dance, then giggled and said she hadn’t since she was five years old.
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