There was that time we were together and not together, when we shared space but not a life.

I can’t forget how much it hurt the days I couldn’t touch you, and how sad it was to even smile at you, because I was crying inside.

We’re never going to be friends now, you and I. If this ends, it ends.

I can’t live in a world where you’re right there and I’m over here and you won’t reach out and touch me.

Eternally platonic, I would have broken to pieces, doing everything I could to feel your love again.… Read the rest

As he stands and rises above us, we hear the gurgling and churning of his massive stomach, the rolls of fat sloshing around what frame he may have inside.

“Did you bring my tribute?”

I didn’t answer. I just used all my strength and my whole body to push the sack of food closer to him.

“You came here because you want something?”

“Yes.”

“Then feed me, you know how this works.”

As I threw whole melons, birds, and loaves of bread into his open mouth, I wondered why I put up with this.

He’s worse than Jabba the Hutt.… Read the rest

You know he’s not happy, but persists nonetheless, going through the motions of the day, doing what he thinks he’s “supposed” to be doing for everyone in his little world.

He gives and gives and takes nothing for himself, and then wonders why he feels so angry.

He needs space but can’t get it, he needs understanding but doesn’t have it.

He’s trapped in a hell of his own making and can’t find a way out.

“Have you ever been so lost, that you became free?” he asked me.

“I was lost and you found me. You’ll never be free.”… Read the rest

He tore her heart out with the grace of a dancer.

First he spun around her and pulled her clothes away, baring her nakedness that she tried to cover, but couldn’t.

He scalped her, ripping off her golden hair, relishing the blood that was pouring in waterfalls over her pretty face.

He stabbed at her, cut her, slashed her, and when she was crying in a ball on the ground, he yanked her back to her feet.

With a flourish, he waved in the air and then plunged into her chest.

She went down again, her heart in his hand.… Read the rest

The day had finally arrived.

She’d been stalking the mailbox for days, but the envelope, more of a package, really, was waiting for her exactly when she should have expected it.

But she didn’t like to assume or expect anything.

She went inside and tore it open, and pages and little booklets came spilling out onto the kitchen table.

“Honor’s Society”, “Lacrosse Club”, “Women’s League of Voters”, “Writing Group”, there were so many things to be excited about.

The door opened.

“Mom, I got in!”

And as happy as she was, her mother still felt a tinge of lost hope.… Read the rest