New Seas

To say he had soulful eyes would be an injustice. Rather, they were a milky green. A clouded visage of perhaps an even more clouded history. They were deep, but murky; cold, but inviting. They tempted me into worlds I could not control, into a flight of passion I could not contain.   But I […]

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Elastic by Tegon Maus

Inspired by Writing Prompt One Hundred and Seven: The elastic on his waistband was frayed, adding one more pleasantry to this awful business. I love my job but sometimes… let’s just say… some days are harder than others.   A few years ago, in late October I had a major remodel to a house out […]

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Leapin’ Lethargy by Andrew Call

Inspired by Writing Prompt One Hundred and Thirteen: The window stood open and all I had to do was jump. Pickled between inevitable pain and ambiguous salvation, most people choose to fly. Faith in a foxhole for the avid atheist kind of stuff. In that brief limbo, the desperation to escape one’s burning building overcomes […]

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Worldly

  I don’t know where I’m going, but I assure you I am going. You cannot stop me; hold fast my boots to this tainted, soiled ground. I was meant to conquer the stars and eat cheese. Flowers are to tickle my nose. Languages are to baffle my brain. Yes, it is true. I may […]

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Caught In The Current

  Islands of cascading mossy trees lined the gritty sand of ocean beaches. Waves trickled in from the calm gulf, a gentle breeze through the sound’s leaves. The water was murky, stagnant, diseased.   He huffed out a sarcastic laugh.    A sea to match his withering soul.    He dug his toes into the […]

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Flight by Susan Vittitow Mark

Response to Writing Prompt Ninety-Seven: A kayak, a tent, an endless horizon and yet… A kayak, a tent, an endless horizon, and yet the tall towers of the city shimmered before Laura’s eyes where there should have only been the endless waves of the Pacific. Whispering pines were drowned out by honking taxicabs and the […]

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Window Pains

Inspired by The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin, 1894. “Darling, Mr. Crawford and his family will be coming to dinner tomorrow. Frank and I have much to discuss over the railroad so I will need you to entertain Mrs. Crawford and their children…” Brently whipped the newspaper he was holding in an attempt to […]

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Communication

“You have a lot of nerve, kid.” I couldn’t be certain, but that puff of air half resembled a laugh. He sat hunched over, a repugnant smirk on his face as I watched him from across the steel table watching the guard pacing in the corner. All the glory I knew in him was stripped […]

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Belts and Feathers

They named her Francis the day she entered into their home. A lost and wounded woman forgetful of her nature, name, and needs. They named her Francis for the way her face drooped to the side like the monks of Franciscan art, their heads tilted downward inspecting their inner depths as if their ears were […]

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Pigtails

On a backdrop of war and tyranny the laughter of a child slips through to the aging cracks of my consciousness. With brown eyes bulging out, head tilt back, and the tip of her tongue pressed up against her nose she burst forth with magical energy that sent shocks of life back into bones I […]

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