Lynette Baxter was born a beautiful child with light brown hair and blue eyes as most babies are, one of thousands born that same day. Not an unusual birth, except, of course, to her parents who were completely enthralled with her arrival. She was a cute normal baby. If she had stayed that way who knows what would have happened or wouldn't have happened. Lynette advanced normally through her first year or more. Her mother...

Coffee. What Sam needed was coffee. He was a walking zombie, desperate for caffeine. It was a condition of his own making, he had to admit, since he was the one who'd wanted to drive on their family vacation instead of flying. And so they had spent more than 40 percent of their holiday — two days down and two days back — stuffed into a Hyundai Sonata, a car which seemed roomy enough during his solo daily commute but quick...

Vacations were far and few between for this family, so when Daddy had a chance to take one, he jumped at it. I cannot remember the last time we took one. But then again, I am only eleven.I was sitting in the back seat of our old beat up jet black Volvo Station Wagon with my little brother. He was licking his cherry lollipop and his lips were red because he played with it more than sucked it. I just wanted to grab it and t...

“The play is the thing!” and there we were. Lights dim. The orchestra being itself. The actors being someone entirely different. All was as it should be. The moment was perfect. A mini-vacation.... the first outing since the funeral. Nearly grown children sitting one on either side of me. The Godspell of Stephen Schwartz provided laughter along with quiet moments. Then it began... “Day by day, day by day, oh dear Lord, th...

That summer, it was too hot. We didn’t have a thermometer, and even if we had, the little red lines and numbers wouldn’t have meant much to me. But I knew that it wasn’t normal. It couldn’t be. By the time the church clock struck ten it was already too stifling to venture outside. The sun had swelled to an angry pulsing ball of fire which I had come to regard as evil, lancing my eyes with pain when it glanced off the shin...

She spent all evening carefully sorting out the pieces. Border pieces went in one pile, sky blue in another, darker pieces in a third. Afterwards, content with her progress, she crawled into bed, clutching Rabbit, her one remainder of childhood, to her chest, and drifted off into an uneasy sleep. In the other room, the jigsaw shifted, pieces inching slowly from one pile to the next, intermingling, sometimes forming new pi...

“Let’s play!” she says to me, tugging at my hand. I shake my head, planting my feet firmly and yanking my arm free from her slim fingers. Alice frowns at me, before shrugging and running towards the large playground. Alice always asks me to play with her, but I never go; instead, I go sit next to the large brick wall with my book. I don’t read though, just pretend to. Instead, I watch the other kids start up a game of pir...

I can't let myself think about him. The sun is shining down on my pale back for the first time in days. A black butterfly with white spots is dancing around in the light breeze delighting in the day and inviting me to join in. But he comes to me unbidden. His face. His walk. His presence. His. Him. Breath in. Breath out. He is my past. Any chance of a future with him is gone.Chloe Brown loved gardens. Her earliest memory...

The smiling, long legged brunette in the photo leaned against the door of a familiar car. One hand held a set of keys against her freckled cheek while the other seemed to toy with the unfastened snapof impossibly skimpy white shorts. In between, an unbuttoned olive-drab, US Army fatigue shirt was spread just wide enough to give a teasing peek at the swell of her firm young breasts.The soldier holding the photo smiled. He’...

“You’re asking me how it’s going?” I said incredulously. “How can you ask me that? I’m paralyzed and I’m dying, for god’s sake!” “Well you don’t have to be sarcastic!” came the response. “And besides, you’re not dead…..yet. By the way, my name is Waldo. Nice to meet you.” Waldo flew over my head singing ‘Getting to know you…..getting to know all about you…..’ I learned later that he often did things like that; he had been...

Ride Across the River I heard her start to cry as soon as the door closed behind me. It didn’t make me feel any better. Maybe I didn’t know what all this was doing to her? What I did know was that whilst I was waiting in the middle of Tiger Bay for Eddie, Mary-Anne was crying behind the closed door. Nevertheless, she had to understand that this was the only way for me, I knew nothing else now. And so here I was, still wai...

There is no one I can talk toAbout the pain I’ve buried deep inside,No one who would understand. So I have summoned all my courageTo sustain me as I bare my soul to you today. I did everything I was taught to do. I never spoke to strangers,I stayed indoors when it got dark. I never rode the train alone, Nor ventured into the park at night.  But no one warned me about you. They never said be wary Of the man you see each da...

Hello, I'm new here. I am better than you. I'm smarter and kindlier — Cleverer too! You're stupid - you're snooty - You're unworthy of my precious time. As for me, it's plain to see: I'm magnificent and sublime! While I am Secretariat,Or perhaps Seattle Slew,The rest of you, a sorry lot,Are destined to become glue.This may seem rather blunt,But that's just how I am.If my directness hurts you,Well, I don't give a damn. Ple...

Music-lovers stand jam-packed in the arenaSurrounded by my musical family of all creeds, races, and ages Differences discarded like last season’s fashions Jubilation spills forth in grins matched like handbagsto shimmering eyesAirborne snippets of snatched conversation propagate like viruses‘Did you hear?’‘First time in years…’‘Oh My God!’‘Thought they split up…’Grows into a buzzing kaleidoscope of noiseExcitement tinges...

She did this every year, so the call came as no surprise. In fact, I had been expecting it for the last few days. The only surprise was that it took so long. I was sitting with my wife having our coffee after dinner when the phone rang. As I got up to answer, my wife gave me a knowing glance but did not say a word. It was as if we both knew instinctively. “Hello.” I started into the phone, “Oh, hi Mom. Yeah, I’d been expe...