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17 hours ago

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Continental Drift, part 7

Albany to New York City

I decided to take a bus for the last section of the journey. I knew that traffic in the New York City area would be crazed, and no place to try to hitch a ride. I’d had excellent luck hitching so far, perhaps due to the protection of Mishipeshu the cat/dr...

Continental Drift, pt. 5

Sudbury to Ottawa

I must have been lonely. I have a distinct memory of sitting in a park, in where I think is Sudbury, Ontario, my back against the trunk of a large tree, listening to Bruce Springsteen. Specifically, I was listening to the end of “I’m on Fire” off Springst...

Continental Drift, pt. 3

Gooseberry Falls to Mirror Lake

I met some nice folks at the State Park. An older couple (probably about the age I am now) staying in an RV in the next camping spot over shared some of their breakfast with me, and wished me luck. I walked out onto the highway. I got a ride right up to t...

My dad dropped me off on the shoulder of an entrance ramp to I-90 on a sunny summer day in 1984 (hitchhiking on the Interstate is illegal, but it’s legal to stick your thumb out for a ride if you do it on the entrance ramp). I slid my oversized, kind-of-g...

Teeth of the Sky

Of course it was a warning.

“Pyramids on the moon. Trippy. Looks like an album cover. Like, you know, Pink Floyd or something.” While Grizz looked out on the horizon contemplating mid-70s prog-rock album art, Jonesy got to work. “Lex, report, are you okay? LOIS, I need a situational...

Dentistry

They don't let me see the scary stuff

I fall easily in love with the pretty eyes of dental assistants. It’s mostly what I see as I lay back in the chair. The grinding drone of drills and clamps and cutting tools surrounds me. The assistants wear masks; I cannot see their noses, their mouths....

Score 6 6
5
111 Views 111
222 words 222 words

Young And Dumb In New Orleans

Twenty two hours in a New Orleans jail

The tenor for the trip was set when the two mild, innocent-looking Midwestern girls got up from their seats on the Greyhound, a few hours before it was set to arrive in New Orleans, and went into the tiny bathroom at the back of the bus together. They eme...

Score 16 16
16
414 Views 414
3.1k words 3.1k words

Love

I'm glad you're home.

The lake called him from uncertain dreams at dawn. Today was the day. He awoke. Frost covered the edges of the windows. Through the clear glass at the center of the pane he saw the snow still blowing hard. Its vehemence contrasted sharply with the warm ca...

Fire and Ice

Look closer.

My big brother Jon packed a snowball with mittened hands. “It’s fake.” “What’s fake?” I knew what he was about to say. Sometimes when it’s your brother you just have to listen. He threw the snowball at me. “The snow. Fake. Made of plastic.” He started mak...

Long Game

I am returning to my animal nature.

My neighbors, I imagine, know me as that guy who stands in the middle of the street for no apparent reason. Is he okay? they probably wonder. Perhaps someone should call 911 Okay. It’s a little embarrassing, but I’ll take the hit Trees block our windows;...

Score 27 27
19
307 Views 307
364 words 364 words

Derpy

Everyone made fun of the deaf kid.

It was just a stupid joke. Everybody made fun of the deaf kid. He talked funny. And he did! We weren’t mean about it. He couldn’t hear us anyway, right? He was frikkin deaf. All we did was make fun of the way he talked. We said he sounded derpy. It’s not...

Score 6 6
6
205 Views 205
411 words 411 words

Empty Nest

Staring down the same wall of darkness

Birdie’s son left in the Spring. She rarely saw him in that last six months he’d lived there anyway. He'd worked full time at Domino’s, came home after midnight, went straight into his room in the basement. She heard the TV. She heard the trips to the fri...