"I Have Always Imagined That Paradise Will Be A Kind Of Library"
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Suprise Me
Paradiso
Prompted By Libraries
/ Stories
"I Have Always Imagined That Paradise Will Be A Kind Of Library"
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Acquired Tastes: A Conspiracy by the Bland & Nasty Tasting Food Lobby
Prompted By Acquired Tastes
/ Stories
Right, acquired tastes, my ar*e. You know what they’re really saying, don’t you? “This stuff is grim, but we can’t afford to throw it away.” So here’s three stories about how you, a literal child, was just too simple to appreciate. Olives. Tiny, wrinkled balls of sadness swimming in brine. Apparently, these were…
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The One That Got Away
Prompted By Temptation
/ Stories
The temptation that I didn't act on
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024 Was NOT the Driver’s IQ, Thank You!
Prompted By My Car of Yesteryear
/ Stories
Something pretty funny did happen IN that car, though
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With Gratitude: Mean Girls
Prompted By Middle School
/ Stories
While gaggles of kids talked and laughed at lunch, I found a quiet corner and savored my solitude as I ate my sandwich alone. Thanks to a thoughtful custodian who unlocked a room for me, I could avoid being seen; I spent my period of exile in silent, and sometimes salty, contemplation.
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Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Prompted By Children's Books
/ Stories
Looking back at all these treasured books, it's hard to find any unifying theme. Why did I love them so much? I don't know.
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Broken Toilet Valve
Prompted By Floods
/ Stories
(Note: this story was originally published in August, 2016 for a “Disaster” prompt.) The call came very early that August morning in 2007. We were both still in bed on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. I heard the voice of my Brazilian cleaning lady from my house in Newton. She was very upset, talking quickly,…
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Done Nothing
Prompted By Dangerous Deeds
/ Stories
The most dangerous thing I ever did was the consequence of the most dangerous occurrence that ever happened to me.
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Blue on Blue
Prompted By Baby Books
/ Stories
Once an art teacher had given our class a homework assignment to collect photos for a collage, including a baby picture. When I’d asked my mom for one, she’d told me my baby pictures had been lost in a flood; yet, here they are.
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The Basement Laundry
Prompted By Basements and Attics
/ Stories
Unlike the barracks and prefabs we had lived in, the modest new house in East Lansing had a righteous Midwestern full, unfinished basement. Wooden staircase near the back door, cinder block walls, divided in two sides. Washing machine and dryer, furnace, storage, and tools on one side; if we had canned, the fruits and vegetables…
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