"Would you like a cookie, dearie?" she would ask any time you came into her kitchen. She was *always* in the kitchen, and that kitchen *always* smelled of caramelizing sugars, citrus fruits, and cigarette smoke. She'd be sat on her stool in the corner near the open window and before you ever had a chance to answer she'd be handing you a cookie from the cookie jar on the counter behind her. Even if...

Were those cheers or laughter

I couldn't tell, my heart beat so loudly in my ears

This could become a disaster, quickly,

Stepping up to face my fears

My mind could not get past her

A wit I'd let knock me around for days

The nerves were building faster

As I recounted all the ways

That this could end poorly

A walk of shame, but not that kind

I thought to myself, "surely,

She's not into you, it'...

The room was cold and metallic, the harsh light bounced off every surface. And yet, she strongly recalled being in a thick fog, drawing breaths slowly as if through a straw, the sound muffled all around her.

“Delilah, can you hear me?” A voice she did not recognize asked her a question she could not answer. A hand crossed her field of vision drawing her attention back to her surroundings. “Delil...

One evening a goose arrives on your porch. He tells you his name is Frank and he must come in.

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Frank was dressed impeccably; suit jack, vest, and pocket square. A thin chain ran from his pocket up to the monocle at his left eye. He ruffled his tail feathers and pointedly asked, “so are you going to let me in or what?”

I was still stunned. How does one react to a talking goose showin...

A girl walks across a frozen lake in hopes of finding something or someone. The icy winds keep her head tucked tight to her shoulders. Her hat is pulled low, almost over her eyes.

_They’ve got to be out here, _she thought_, I can hear their hums at night from my bedroom._

She moved slowly and steadily but confidently, something had a tight hold of her. Under an intense moon, the ice crystals s...

The children, previously reveling in their joy, came bounding down the slide that extends off the bouncy house, screaming. That’s what usually happened. I assisted their safe and timely exit as I had been instructed many times to do.

_Is that all of them, I thought, someone’s gotta go in and check. Shit. _

__

When the flow of children ceased, I was soon inside the beautiful castle, adorned with ...

He climbs out of bed, doesn’t bother to change, walks downstairs to kick _all_ of their tails, and then returns to bed.

_*sigh, deep breath, sniffle, yawn*_

__

__

“What was going on down there, dear?” she asks without rolling over. He sits at the edge of the bed in a daze, half awake.

_*sniffle*_

He kicks off his slippers and slips back underneath the covers next to her. “Billy was picking on ...

The sun breached the horizon as I took stock of what supplies were left. _Three bottles of water, four cans of food, two spoons, a packet of matches, a flash light, three D batteries, a swiss army knife with one broken feature, and an old baseball bat. _Everything fit nicely inside my backpack snuggled up against the sole blanket I had, with the exception of the bat which I preferred to keep handy...

I salt my mashed potatoes like grandpa, heavy handed and fearless.

That’s what my mother once told me.

She said that I’ve got her brothers laugh, too, wicked and sincere.

On some days it feels like my apple dropped straight down from its birthplace in the branches.

Landing neatly amongst its peers.

On others it feels like it rolled downhill and got kicked across the street.

What do you thin...

_It’s hard to be inconspicuous when you’re hanging upside down, but so far I have been careful to only leave the belfry just before the bell tolls and so far no one has noticed me. _

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_The few occasions I haven’t made my exit in time the vibrations have rattled my teeth and it became difficult to adequately bite down. The days that followed I would grow weak and transformation and flight would b...