It hurts sometimes, when you see how easily things really fall apart. You're all held together by chains and fire, which is what it would take to break you. And then the fog clears and in the light you can barely make out the remains of the emptiness that was all an illusion of safety. But even the illusion is torn to shreds and there you are: ( Read more... )

She's all dressed up, though he'll never see her. Their memories are piled on the table before her; she touches them tenderly: they're all she has left. A man enters to tell her it's time, and she runs past him into the empty room, arms open, to be alone with her baby. He doesn't respond as she holds him tightly to her chest, rocking and ( Read more... )

We met in driver’s ed. He has black hair and the bluest eyes and our seats in the back row kept moving closer together until Ms. Hopper made us stop turning off the lights during movies and moved me up by the chalkboard facing the class so we’d stop distracting the other students. So I sat on the floor behind the teacher’s chair text-messaging ( Read more... )

For the sake of annonymity we'll say that his name is Eric. But for the sake of honesty we'll know that it isn't. And just for the record, we'll say that I hate him. But strictly between me and the rest of the universe, I really think he's awesome. I guess it's a blessing and a curse, though, because if there is a line between love and ( Read more... )

I’m in the passenger seat of my mom’s Camry and as we pull onto the highway there’s a man in the grass. Long, blond hair and a backpack - of course I stare as we drive by. But before I can look away he’s staring back at me, and then I can’t look away, because he’s staring right through me, right into my eyes even though we’re going 30 down the ( Read more... )