Most read stories

A Midsummer's Nightmare

22622262 views33 comments22 favs

"So, is this the datgum exit?" "Grumphfr exit fregerrock." (This response means either yes, it is, I told you that ten miles ago, or, no it's not, I told you that ten miles ago, depending if it’s the right exit or not.)

Somewhere

22622262 views1414 comments1212 favs

...but still, when she whispers that going out now might put her in the mood later he unties from his mooring and sets them both drifting toward the gin-splintered latitudes

Harry, Giselle and Joyce

22622262 views22 comments11 fav

Harry Reed does not want to die in this room, in front of Giselle, who has been his wife for exactly six months, who has slept beside him for twelve months.

The Birdcage

22612261 views55 comments33 favs

He blew out the candle. There was the tang of candle smoke, scattered by a sudden rush of wings, and the immediacy of another breathing thing in the dark. I heard the birdcage open, and the bird fluttering in there without crying out.

Withdrawal

22612261 views1414 comments1313 favs

Are you interested in a new account?

Letters from the Asylum (1)

22612261 views66 comments11 fav

I'll be honest, and tell you that I am in a bad way. The weather is very hot up here, extremely so, almost hellish.

Cinderella's Lament

22612261 views1111 comments44 favs

My name is Wanda McClure and I lived in the foothills of Eastern Kentucky. A small town miles off the interchange, and mostly in the middle of nowhere. I lived in a trailer. I was 52 years old.

Arcana Magi Cross - c.1

22602260 views00 comments00 favs

Ai picked up the ball and noticed the feathers. Wings unfurled and the head looked up. Staring deep into the bird’s eyes, Ai could have sworn she saw flames.

10 Unofficial Jobs Jake Baker has Never Got Paid For

22602260 views99 comments66 favs

Not that their pa really needs the suitcase; he's been coming and going for so long it doesn't matter. The suitcase's just for show. A final goodbye.

The tuner

22592259 views2121 comments1414 favs

yielding wood song

The Philosophers' Problems

22592259 views66 comments44 favs

The day the thinking factory imploded everyone for miles knew there was a problem. The sound of the walls crumbling in upon themselves was heard for miles, or perhaps it wasn't.

The Intervention

22592259 views1919 comments1515 favs

"You're publishing too much too / quickly. We think that's unhealthy. We want you / to slow down. You're becoming a fame whore."

Throwing Pencils

22582258 views1414 comments1010 favs

I can never tell if he’s drunk or using some sort of substance or if perhaps his brain just doesn’t fire at the pace that we have come to accept as normal.

The Saurians' Revenge

22582258 views55 comments11 fav

I’ve never liked birds. There’s something smug about the way they look at us, we prisoners of gravity, something self-congratulatory in their songs. Maybe I’m just projecting my own feelings about being stuck on the ground, attributing attitudes t

A mostly true story about the TI-83

22572257 views11 comment00 favs

And the only time the TI-83 sees the light of day is when I'm rectifying my debit card purchases at such places as Kmart, Office Depot, Walmart, and Office Max, to make sure everything comes out even and good and perfect, a skill never learned in Trysics,

Ode to a Crow

22572257 views77 comments33 favs

We walk in silence. We water our plants. We don’t eat as well as we should. We try to love. We try to forget.

We Used To Be Sharks

22562256 views2525 comments1313 favs

I was sitting on the therapist’s couch in someone else’s boxer shorts.

The Creature, to an Empty Chair

22562256 views1515 comments88 favs

It is pain taking a form, Plato’s dream, born from your hands father that rejected me, giving me the color of abandonment, eyes dulled by isolation, a body deceased without life-giving touch.

See Jane

22562256 views3232 comments1111 favs

Jane watched her mother remove her wedding ring with butter.

This Is Why I Loved You

22562256 views1111 comments66 favs

Your opal eyesYour sea-blue eyesYour sky-blue eyesYour ice-blue eyesYour gray-blue eyes, your periwinklesYour hazel eyesYour violet eyes(almond-shaped and almost cubist)Your indigo eyesYour topaz eyes, your sunkissed lashesYour turtle-sundae eyes.I loved your black shiny…

Numb And Number

22562256 views55 comments33 favs

He looked up as he reached the intersection, and crossed as it cleared. His head was down again as he walked toward his car, which was parked beside a schoolyard, where junior high students were involved in an after-school game of touch football. He smi

Louis Belfast

22552255 views1818 comments1313 favs

"You know, there really is a death of the heart."

Defender

22532253 views44 comments00 favs

He had what was commonly referred to in junior high as the ‘bullshit mustache’.

Locust Valley Breakdown

22532253 views22 comments00 favs

The specialist had kept what he'd taken out of Sue May. I made an appointment with him and was shown it floating in a jar of clean unguent.

I'd Be Happy To Date You When Hell Freezes Over -- One Single Librarian's Collection Of Online Dating Profile Turnoffs

22532253 views1111 comments99 favs

Dude -- I DON'T want to date your boat!

Happiness

22512251 views88 comments33 favs

Was I a dreamer? Was I asking for too much?

Nature Poem

22512251 views44 comments44 favs

Blueberries are like testicles: you have to hold them gently, from underneath.

Royal Coachman

22502250 views2121 comments1111 favs

" trout hovered in a sun-dappled pool"

Eight Maids a'Milking

22502250 views00 comments00 favs

“… and that concludes my presentation. I’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have.” Meixu Liao smiled and turned her hands out, palms upwards. Americans typically saw this combination of facial expression and body language as conveyin

Eight minutes, twenty one seconds

22492249 views22 comments00 favs

Well, I turn the car off, the song turns off, I gather all of my stuff, turn off my lights, inevitably drop something as I’m getting out of the car, shut the door, lock the car, fumble for my house key, walk up the stairs, unlock the front door, set my