humanity
For better or for worse, relationships reveal the core of the human condition.
Barcelona
I already know how many leaves are on the tree. I planted the tree. I know everything about the tree. You don’t need to give me useless information about my own tree, but you continue to record in your little black notebook how many leaves hang from the branches, and there is nothing I can do to stop you.
By Megan Malfi5 years ago in Humans
The Anomaly
At this point the man no longer remembers how long it has been since he last slept indoors. The nights begin to blur together almost as much as the days, days spent thinking of all the tiny, irrelevant mistakes that culminated in a significant relevance. He lays on the bench looking up at the stars trying not to think about all the thoughts he’s already thought before. He struggles to remember a poem from his past. Something about proofs and diagrams? ‘So soon I became tired with accountability,’ was that the line? He knew how it ended, as he too sat in the mystical moist night air and looked up in perfect silence at the stars.
By Brian Tuomi5 years ago in Humans
Book Learning
Still in disbelief I managed to stumble to the bench and collapse my mind that was racing as fast as my pulse. The questions whirled around in my brain to the point the rainbow melded to white. What was I going to do, should I tell anyone, what would they think, how would they treat me after knowing, JUST BREATH, my mind finally screamed. A break from the questions yielded to shivering and sweat, then to elbows on the knees, head in hands, looking down, coming back to myself I saw a small black rectangle which appeared to be a thin book. Straightening up a bit I reached down and picked it up. The soft pliable cover felt of leather, it was very thin and a bit worn. Looking it over I opened the cover and it had pages of a modeled linen color and only a few of them; it appeared to be old and well used. I flipped to the front page and in a flowing text were the words "I'm Yours". Hmmmm odd, my mind stopped the thought process for a moment; it looked good, felt good, and sort of felt like it was mine. Looking around I hoped I didn't see anybody looking like they may have dropped this little black book. Shaking my head I stood up and tucked the book into my pocket, it took my mind off the other and just continued the weirdness of this day. My feet propelled me onward and for now the questions had stopped and I felt the warmth of my heart.
By Terry J Davis5 years ago in Humans
Finders, Keepers
Me and Charlie was sharing a place down on 16th Street. We weren’t close friends or anything, just sorta sharing the space. I had been sleeping behind an empty warehouse up on 12th but they decided to turn it into condos and ran me off. The guy who had been sharing with Charlie packed up and went to Texas, at least he said he was headed that way. We ran into each other at the free breakfast at the mission and got to talking about our situations. I needed a regular place, and Charlie needed somebody to kind of watch over him. He said he’d had two strokes, at least. Two that had been diagnosed and maybe a couple more little ones where he hadn’t been able to get to a doctor. He said he’d sometimes kind of zone out and it was usually no big deal, but he needed somebody to be around who could get help if he didn’t come back.
By JR Sprawls5 years ago in Humans
Parallel Lives
Life had not been kind to Warren. He was not always sure where things had started to go wrong. He was 37, with a boyish frame, but looked older, his face sallow from years of alcohol abuse. His hair, once sandy, was starting to thin and turn grey, and hung limply around his pockmarked face. He had a taciturn disposition, which was not at all helpful for today’s activity, begging outside the train station. Other regulars tried to play on the sympathies of passers-by. “Spare any change, I’m trying to get enough for a bed tonight”, wishing good night to commuters who passed without a second look, trying to sell small drawings, using humor. Others took a more aggressive tact, approaching directly or boarding trains. He took neither, and sat silently in his usual spot, somewhat morose, waiting to see what came his way. He didn’t like to beg, and he wasn’t good at it. But his check was not due for another five days or so, and he could make $30 sitting here in a couple of hours on a good day, without too much effort.
By Emma Oakes5 years ago in Humans
Waiting to Bloom
I’ll always remember the day that Tommy left. Not even so much for the breakup itself; in fact, that memory has largely been muddled by time. No, I’ll always remember the day because it was such a You-Just-Got-Dumped kind of day. It was the beginning of March, and the weather was certainly coming in like a lion. Blustery and gray, it was the kind of day that would be enjoyed much better at home. And yet I couldn’t stand being inside. I didn’t want to be alone with myself, in the tiny apartment that I was struggling to pay for. So I bundled up and took a walk, unable to tell if the sharp stinging on my face was caused by the wind or my tears. Probably both. Tommy had asked me to come over to his place earlier that morning, where he wasted no time in telling me that he thought it would be best if we spent some time apart. “Lindsay”, he started. “We’ve been together for almost 7 years now and I haven’t seen you ever do something just for yourself. You don’t take risks. You don’t take the time to enjoy yourself. And I just don’t feel like it’s right for you to be in a relationship right now.” While I thought it was kind of a lame excuse for a breakup, what annoyed me the most was that he wasn’t wrong. I’d always struggled with spending time with myself. Being alone with my thoughts honestly felt overwhelming most of the time. So I instead threw myself into jobs that I wasn’t necessarily passionate about, but that kept me busy. I made sure that I was always occupied with some sort of task, regardless of if it was beneficial to myself and my goals. In fact, I had started to lose sight of what my goals actually were.
By Rikki Carroll5 years ago in Humans
Just Give Me a Sign!
When I was a little girl, my family and I would lay a blanket on our back deck and lie out to look at the stars. We lived in a very rural town, which meant that the stars shone their brightest in the completely black sky. We would try to let our eyes take in the billions of sparkling lights dancing along the milky way. We searched for shooting stars and sometimes made wishes by mistake on a sneaky satellite sweeping along the night sky.
By Sara Dunderdale5 years ago in Humans
Rainbow is my favorite color
As a little girl, I didn’t understand why I had to choose one or the other. Why couldn’t I do it all and like everything and everyone? When someone asked me what my favorite color was, I couldn’t choose one so I said, “Rainbow!” I didn’t want any colors to feel left out. Was I left or right-handed? Um, neither... both! What’s your favorite this-or-that? I never knew and usually just picked something random to satisfy the questioner.
By Kelsey Mahalia5 years ago in Humans
Lost and NoT Found
Patrick walked into the 7 to 11 Convenience store as he always did on Friday. He walked to the lottery display and quietly completed his card entries. He chose three plays for the Friday Mega Million drawing and five plays for the Saturday Powerball drawing. As usual he plays the same numbers. He has the numbers written in his "Little Black Book" with other important numbers and messages. This notebook is always on his person and and his numbers always in his possession.
By Ray Hodges5 years ago in Humans
The House of Love
The birds’ chirping in the Japanese-style garden outside the clinic was nearly the only thing which could calm Tyler down. No doubt he was finding this two-hour therapy session extremely tedious. Reclining on the leather couch, he could barely look the doctor in the eyes as he talked; and was secretly, vehemently scratching one of his thumbs against bent fingers to alleviate the tension.
By Ihor Polovyi5 years ago in Humans
