Cherrypicked stories
The Lady on Sycamore Lane (2)
V. The third time the sound came, Ruth was ready for it. Not ready in the way of preparation. Ready in the way of a person who has been listening so...
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- 120 reads
The Lady on Sycamore Lane (1)
Sycamore Lane is nine houses long, set back from the road at polite distances, with porches wide enough for two chairs apiece. The mailboxes are...
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- 155 reads
Watching You: Chapters Thirty-Five & Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Five Kelly saw the envelope on the mat the moment she entered the house. It was addressed to Mrs Kelly Stafford in bold, black...
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- 95 reads
Bron-12
Continued from Chapter 11 Bron-11 | ABCtales When she was crossing Oxford Circus, walking across the Big Park – she still called it that, even though...
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- 239 reads
The Billabong Retreat
The Billabong Retreat By Paul McCann It was early in the morning and the sky was overcast , sometimes the sun would briefly appear but the dark...
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- 168 reads
I am an African American
“I am an African American” In a now famous speech, at the Berlin Wall, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy issued the iconic phrase “Ich bin ein...
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- 187 reads
Just in Case
Lenny sat down on a faded bar stool held together by duct tape. One needn’t be picky at the end of the world. Despite the dire warnings in the paper...
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- 355 reads
They Can Only Do Harm
In the Free World the cost of living is going up at an alarming rate.
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- 21 comments
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- 677 reads
The Less Miserables Lose the Day (3)
(Cont.) The Slurpees were cold and too sweet and exactly what Quinn needed. They sat on the curb outside the Quik-Mart, eight kids in a row, cups...
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- 145 reads
The Less Miserables Lose the Day (2)
(Cont.) "Yo, Q!" Quinn looked up. Blinked. The world came rushing back—color and sound and the weight of his own body, suddenly present again,...
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- 141 reads
The Less Miserables Lose the Day (1)
Quinn showed up too early. That was the problem with not having anything else to do. His brother Marcus had taken the car to work—the graveyard shift...
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- 186 reads
The Matchmaker
It's the late seventies, it's the summer, we are young and working hard at having fun and falling in love
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- 153 reads
Silences
I don't post a poems for ages then like buses two come along at once . Image is courtesy of Mariusz Rutkowski from Wikimedia Commons
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- 13 comments
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- 651 reads
Ghigau 24
24. Monday 17th Lenny set off for the office just after midday. The once lush-green parks had turned the colour of straw, their ancient trees...
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- 5 comments
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- 223 reads
Whipping Post
There are times when you should drive without music to become intimate with the noises of your vehicle, to recognize when it, as mama and sissy say “...
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- 202 reads
Rehearsel
I found a bone in the yard last week that fit my hand too well. I told myself: coincidence. I told myself: the world is full of things shaped like us...
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- 183 reads
Silent Partners
When silence is louder than the commotion of life. Like all new ventures it set off well both partners keen to make the grade by driving the spade...
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- 7 comments
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- 372 reads
Bron-11
Continued from Chapter 10: Bron-10 | ABCtales Chapter 11 Chris reached down and switched off the VCR. He breathed out, in the manner of someone...
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- 197 reads
Snap Decision
I find her reading glasses on the counter where she always left them, beside the bowl she used for keys she never found again. I find the knife she...
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- 167 reads
Python
Mrs Helen Sattar, the Community Member of the Parole Panel listens. Writes messages to herself, but until now remains silent. ‘How do you feel about...
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- 7 comments
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- 379 reads