Teresa and Mabel, twelve and eight, were skating on the concrete driveway and sidewalk wearing brand new roller skates. It was great fun. Father called out the front door to Teresa. She didn't hear over the sound of the skates. He hollered louder. She skated up the drive, thin arms thrusting out along with each bony leg. She hurried up to her father. Her joy was utterly apparent in her radiant smile. Teresa looked up at h...

When I am not doing anything I look at your picture, and I think to myself, what it would be like to hold your face in my hands and kiss your lips, to touch your beard and trace your eyes with my fingertips.You have this innocent look of a little boy in your eyes that I so dearly love to look at. That naughty streak to explore is showing in your sparkling blue eyes. I wanted to know what was behind your naughty smile, the...

Today I took a long stroll, well, longish. It was an absolutely beautiful day and the sun shone brightly and hot as I walked through the trees. It was the Fifth day of September, Two Thousand and Eighteen and the forest was quiet and peaceful. Suddenly, I stopped. There, on the lake, just through the trees, a lone Heron, standing absolutely still on the opposite bank just yards away. I raised my camera, focused and... bea...

The realtor described the place as a grand old dame of a house: a three-story high Victorian in a state of slight disrepair, built in 1897 but with so many random, period-inconsistent architectural details added on over the years (a deck over the front door, a mudroom added on the side, several of the larger rooms broken up with wallboard and framed for apartments) it did not qualify for the historical registry. People si...

  “There’s a bluebird in my heart that Wants to get out, But I’m too tough for him, I say, stay in there, I’m not going To let anyone see You” Charles Bukowski     When loneliness became a part of me In such a way that others could not see. My heart forgot to feel, it hurt so much, And locked itself up tight against a touch.   The bluebirds came to nest, they lost their way. They could no longer fly, they had to stay.   W...

What if you hadn’t been there, if we hadn’t met that day, what if when I’d looked at you, you’d looked the other way? What if I had been older, would you have found a way to stay, what if we hadn’t parted, each going our separate way? Would our lives have been different, would we have made it last? Would we have stayed together or remained in each other’s past? What if we hadn’t met again, years later, quite by chance? Wh...

  ****                                                                                                                                                                                                         **** Reader discretion strongly advised.The story you are about to read contains content that some may find offensive or disturbing, including strong language and graphic violence. By choosing to read this piece, you a...

Your name will divide opinion for as long as Europe lasts, and many think only of your overweening ambition. Yet you saved your country from chaos, and even as your armies marched across the continent they were engaged in an act of creation as much as destruction, resulting in the making of modern Europe. And in their wake you imposed a unified legal code that has never been replaced. Even in England where you were both f...

It had started inauspiciously, much as any other day. But that sharp, cold, Thursday morning was one that would shape history. Both political and religious history. It would be wrong to say that it 'changed' history, as history is an eternally changing story. History itself cannot be changed - only the telling of it.Not a single member of the congregation of The Church of Our Lady who arrived that November morning had any...

Moments Of being scared Being in a fog of uncertainty  Not having control Moments Of reaching out Of believing Of holding on and refusing to give up Moments Of laughter Joy Tears And rage Moments To live Grow together Never letting go Moments Of love Of life

“This isn’t how it has to be,” John told the big man holding the bolt cutters. “I’m tryin’ my best t’ hold everythin’ together, but…” He looked toward his wife. “Just look!!” Sobbing, he slowly lifted his free, undamaged hand and pointed. “Look what I come home to.” Blood was dripping from his hand and running in streams down his forearm. When he focused on the blood drizzling from his elbow, he felt waves of dizziness fl...

To become spring, one needs to risk winter. To become summer, one needs to embrace spring. To become fall, one needs to revel summer. To become winter, one needs to cuddle fall.

My breath comes in great gasps. I stand panicked but subdued in a long, thin, dust filled communal toilet. Several of the buildings in our street have been lost to bombs in the past few days, and the dust seems to hang around like a fog.The white and dark blue tiling on the walls and floor reflect the remains of the daylight, which plays with the Brownian dust particles. As much is hidden by the dust as is revealed by the...

  MARTIN HANDED A MUG of fresh coffee to Jane and slid into the seat opposite her at the breakfast table, pausing a moment before he spoke. “Jane, I need to ask you something.” Caught off guard by the statement, she slopped a little of the steaming liquid. “You always do that when I’m holding a drink,” she chided gently, dabbing the spill with a napkin. Her lighthearted tone belied the knot in her stomach, which was quite...

  THE CALENDAR TAUNTED JANE, its little yellow-highlighted square outlined in a bold red stroke mocking her lack of progress. ‘You’re going to miss the deadline, you know. I’m just six weeks away now,’ it scoffed. ‘Whatever made you apply for that fellowship anyhow, and what could the panel have been thinking when they gave it to you? You’re no writer; you’ve proven that over the past ten and half months.’ She glared at i...