humanity
For better or for worse, relationships reveal the core of the human condition.
Quarantine Cleanse
I still see humans twice a week. The freeways empty at times, the international airport deserted counters and food vendors haunting even as I sent my dream girl, at ICE’s urging, into exile in Australia on the last plane. The Yeti out the window on her flight was Covid. The New Zealand crew fired mid-air because the airline could no longer afford the luxury of fourteen days of quarantine if one of the passengers had smuggled the virus on board. And passengers had been denied boarding, luggage taken off the plane, if their passports did not match up with a petty bureaucrat searching frantically for proof of their very existence in the all wise state computer.
By Chris Landon4 years ago in Humans
Being Alive
“Okay,” He started off again. “Say someone walks out into the middle of a frozen pond, but, like, they know it’s not really frozen. Like – there’s been a freeze after a thaw, and everyone knows that the pond isn’t safe to walk on. But they go out into the middle of it and just stand there, and it’s not like they are trying to kill themselves, like directly, but they wouldn’t be too bothered if they fell through the ice and drowned you know?”
By Barbara Egan4 years ago in Humans
December 2021
Her legs had quickly become numb, yet she had no plans to move. Not for a moment did she long for the warm soft couch of her grandmother that she had left behind that morning. No, this cold bench was where she had to be, and soon she would go to where she needed to be. After all, she was about to lose everything that mattered to her, and she felt like it was all her fault.
By Josh Clements4 years ago in Humans
Through These Eyes
Covid-19 is a difficult topic to write about. It's something that has affected an unfathomable amount of people in ways so varied that finding the words to describe the experience in a way that touches or relates to them all is simply impossible. As a writer, I struggled with that inescapable truth for a long time. As I mulled over this article and how to write it, the question of how to connect with my readers, how to write a message that can relate to everyone, constantly held me back. The answer? You can't.
By Richard Noble4 years ago in Humans
Just a Day at the Laundry
Greetings Mum, and thank you for the lovely letter received today – the 5th January: You must surely have lent it wings to arrive so quickly, and as usual, it was a most welcome sight.. although scrunched into an unbelievably small space they call a mailbox. Actually the letter box isn’t too small, but when you get mail for the 5 current residents and ‘several’ previous residents every day, there ain’t much space left I can tell you. It is fortunate that your letters are protected with plastic liners, as the letters are often soaked by rains because the lid won’t close, and sometimes falls off completely.
By Ronald Gordon Pauley4 years ago in Humans
Life Writes Us, So We Write Life
I remember it like it was yesterday, an early morning in mid-September of 1988, the beginning of my 7th grade year. The Sun was bright coming over the trees, and the air was warm and inviting. I walked to the end of my driveway, a convenient pickup spot for the bus to school, and my neighbor, Jen, was sitting next to our mailbox nose-deep in a book. Reading was one of things I liked doing the least when I was that age, and I snickered to myself when I saw her. But something tickled my brain, and a couple of minutes of standing there in silence, I decided to ask her what she was reading. Without looking up from the novel, she told me that it was “The Two Towers”, the second book of “The Lord of the Rings” by J R R Tolkien. My curiosity piqued further, I asked her to describe the scene that she was currently engrossed in.
By Anthony Stauffer4 years ago in Humans
The glory of red lips
He’d been born poor and suffered a lot before he was the king of the song. But today was not good for him at all. The Dr frowned and told him his days were numbered. “What the hell!” was his first response, then he went to the pub to get drunk and say goodbye to the good days. “No, I’ll not go easily,” Was his first response after the first drink he had. And he decided to take revenge from the fate that would take his life and prohibit him from enjoying what he’d achieved through sweat and tears.
By Ayman Baroudi4 years ago in Humans
