• On a Mission

    “She may be crazy, but she has a mission and she knows what she wants,” I said as  Jessica walked away.  “Yes, but to what extent?  Who is she willing to hurt to get there?”  Cindy crossed her arms and tried to turn away.  But her eyes were glued on Jessica, just like mine.  “What will we do?  She will…

  • No Nickname

    “He has no nickname,” I said to my coach.  “He needs no nickname.  His name is Johnson and that’s what he goes by.”  I tried to stay defiant and firm in my stance.  Coach was an intimidating man and was  used to getting his way.  But Johnson was my friend and he deserved my support.  He hadn’t…

  • Curfew

    “She’s always home by curfew,” I said, pacing in front of the front door.  “I don’t know what’s happening tonight.  Do you know who she was going out with?”  “She’s eighteen.  She’s going to miss curfew a few times here and there.  I wouldn’t worry about it too much,” my husband said relaxing back into…

  • Closer to God

    The mountains seemed to get bigger every time I closed my eyes.  The thin mountain air longed to caress my face and lungs.  I delayed in opening my eyes as I knew all I would see would be the flat dusty roads of my hometown.   My days were spent listening to coworkers drone on about meaningless issues…

  • Backroads

    “Just take all the backroads.  Those are the best roads to take at night.” I listened to Tyler from the back seat and tried to go back to sleep.  I didn’t want to be involved with what they were doing, but didn’t know how to crawl out of the hole I was already in.  Tyler and Dylan both knew I was terrible at…

  • Good For

    “That’s all he’s good for, really.”  I tossed the picture of Eric off to the side and started sorting the next stack.  I was ready to move on.  “So are you really going to push him aside just like that?  After all you two have been through?”  Samantha started stacking the books in piles that didn’t make any sense,…

  • The Swing

    “I did all my homework at that swing,” I said pointing at the old tire swing hanging in the open field.  “And wrote all my stories for the paper there.”  The tire swing looked as if no one had used it in years.  When I still lived at home, I had tried to oil the tire a few times…

  • Discreet

    “Please be discreet,” I though as the principal walked into the classroom.  We were in the middle of a test that I didn’t know any of the answers to so even though I was trying, my mind kept wandering.  As I watched the principal confer with our history teacher, I knew it had to be about what…

  • Chaotic

    “This looks a bit more chaotic than what you’ve done in the past,” Mr. Ross told me as he crossed his arms.  “Life is chaotic,” I stammered.  I didn’t really want to tell my teacher what really was going on.  It was really none of his business.  He couldn’t do anything about my personal life.  I knew I couldn’t,…

  • Small Time

    “That’s small-time life for you,” I told my cousin.  “Everyone knows everyone and everything.”    “I know, but sometimes I hope people will forget to notice.  And that they won’t talk and won’t start rumors.”  Eliza had taken off her shoes and was dipping her toes into the lake.  “I think you’d have to move to a bigger city for that to happen. …