Cole felt as if he and Linda had been having this exact same argument through most of their marriage. Of course, they argued unlike any other couple he knew. There were no raised voices, and Cole at least usually kept the smile on his face. All the world loves a clown, after all, and it's easiest for a clown to love the world ( Read more... )

It was about four o'clock in the afternoon, mid June, with the sun shining and the ocean nothing more than a brilliant blue glare in the distance. I was wearing an offensively orange Aloha shirt, khaki Bermuda shorts and a pair of worn leather sandals. I looked like I belonged in the same travel brochure that I imagined once featured the Hub ( Read more... )

( Cut for exposition and length. )

With five elections under their collective belts, it was tradition now that once the election results were posted, the island (or most of the island, anyway) took the day off to enjoy a celebration. The kitchen crew worked for hours to make sure there was ample food and drink piled on tables both inside and outside the compound, and the music had ( Read more... )

God, who would have thought this would be so difficult? Sasan sighed as he ran a hand through his hair again, singling out a small section, and holding it straight out. The scissors he was using were ridiculously small, but they were the sharpest ones he could find, and he wasn't going to hack at his hair with something blunt just to make things ( Read more... )

Honesty's a real bitch sometimes.

Sure, it's good to tell the truth. Saves you the trouble of remembering all your lies. But there's such a thing as too much truth, and I crossed that line hours and hours ago. So me? I'm keeping my mouth shut as best I can. It's a little hard to crack jokes when all you can do is be honest.Veronica Mars hadn't ( Read more... )

On the way downtown I stopped at a bar and had a couple of double Scotches. They didn’t do me any good. All they did was make me think of Silver-Wig, and I never saw her again. I stared listlessly into the empty shot glass but I didn’t find any answers. I wasn’t disappointed. I leaned back in the uncomfortable stool, and beat a tattoo on the edge ( Read more... )