humanity
For better or for worse, relationships reveal the core of the human condition.
Strange People in Strange Places
Freddie was strange. As the newest addition to the overcrowded three-bedroom duplex, wrapped in a Spanish-style stucco and shrouded in palm trees and in the middle of the Glendale Annex, Freddie did not quite fit in. The home was caressed by dozens of houses, filled with nobodies who hiked to work every morning and never returned home in the evenings, to rinse and repeat the next day, with newly blood-shot eyes. Either end of the Annex dipped into mountainous landscapes that stretched out towards the sun, both in greeting and a never-ending goodbye, like a polite Southern hostess. Hall-Beckly Canyon welcomed in the old friend with politeness; Haines Canyon Park saw to its exit with a “y’all don’t be strangers, ya hear?” and thirty more minutes of unhurried goodbyes.
By Rachel Ward5 years ago in Humans
A Time of Manifestation
Rue! I heard my grandmother Marley calling out for me. Yes, grandma what is it? Oh, nothing I just wanted to see your face. I have not seen you all day you. Agreeing I thought to myself yes because I was sort of not in the mood to be bothered. So, what do you and papa have planned for the day? We are going to lunch first and then hanging out at the senior center. Going to whoop them in some cards and dominoes I see. I looked across the room to where she was sitting in her rocking chair, today she wore a bright almost lime green blouse with a pink scarf. My grandmother had a peculiar sense of taste in fashion I smiled. she smiled back. Laying across the sofa I sighed and spoke, grandma I had the weirdest dream last night. I had a dream that I won the lottery I had five out of the six numbers. It felt crazy real I could even remember the numbers I had wrote them in my phone. Pulling my phone out and looking at the screen I started calling out the number from my dream. Nine, thirty-six, forty-two, twelve, twenty-one, nineteen. When she did not say anything glanced I over at her. Grandma why are you looking at me like that? Marley sat there looking as if in deep thought. Sweetie you might not believe me, but I had the exact same dream. Grandma do not make fun of me. No, really Rue the only difference was that it was one of the men family who won and not you. Are you just saying that to me grandma? No child, I had a similar dream. If I were you, I would go and play the lottery. Starting at her from the side I told her I would consider going to play. I am serious Rue go and play, there is a reason we both had similar dreams. What would you do with a big amount of money like that? Laughing her off I heard myself saying I don’t know grandma before changing the subject. I sat speaking with my grandma about forty-five minutes longer before I heard my papa making his way downstairs so that they could leave. Those two are as thick as thieves you would not find one without the other. Thinking to myself about how cute they are together her the spunky personality and him the mellow fellow as I like to say. They are my heart and soul and if it were not for them, I believe my life would probably be much different than what it is today they had been there for her when she had no one else in her corner. She wanted to make them proud and was trying her hardest to do so, but she had to admit to herself that she stumbled more than necessary, and I know it frustrated them that she had always switched the direction she wanted her life to go in. But every moment along the way had been encouraging.
By Raquel Wyatt5 years ago in Humans
Straighten Up and Guy Write
It’s a good thing all that hullabaloo goes on below, thought Abner. And below is where it had better stay. He meant to scoff, but it came out as a sigh. Only one thing could tear Abner’s eyes from the sky; one event, one day of the year. God bless Augustabelle Abordieu for doing something interesting with her inheritance. Abner leaned over the wooden railing and tried to ignore the ache in his back.
By Mallory Sandstrom5 years ago in Humans
The Good Book
Abe, they chose ABE. They didn’t appreciate any of his sacrifices, first one in and the last to leave and vacation, what was that! Adam contemplated his abysmal work life when he spotted Eden, his favorite bistro, and stopped for some amazing lemonade. A warm smile greeted him as the waitress asked what he’d like to start with. All the anger and frustration melted away and peace washed over him the moment he walked in. He ordered peach lemonade and a half gallon to take home to his wife. Eden was their favorite restaurant before he began working at Sin Rostro. Sipping his lemonade he felt better so he ordered meals to take home and surprise Eve. While waiting for the food he noticed Dominating in Industry: Successful Habits and Strategy of the Successful. “What have I got to lose at this point?” he thought. He began reading … “In the beginning ….” strange beginning but he stuck with it. The book gripped him so that he didn’t even notice the waitress return with his order.
By Jennifer Helmstetter5 years ago in Humans
The tale of Mr. Mediocrity
Let me introduce you to a man, I guess we'll loosely call him that. Mr. Mediocrity-his name. Known Allergies? Growth, and facts. Let's try some positive philosophy, for example; gaining advice to help make wise decisions? You mean back when peers leaned on parents for wisdom? Bad example-his were in prison.
By Joseph Wilson III5 years ago in Humans
THRIVING
I wake up, 2am, a panic. The rain is falling too hard outside my window. And the wind. The wind! It's a decision no one ever told me I’d have to make, not really. If I go out there in this storm, is this a storm? This is Southern California after all. But it's fucking freezing. And it's raining too hard. My imagination flashes violently, bursts of worst case scenarios break like waves around me. It is raining so much harder than it has in...I can't remember when. I can't go outside. I can't afford to get sick, not now, not when the ICU’s are still overflowing. When there is another strain of the deadly virus that has been taking my neighbors lives one by one for over a year now. It's mutated? IT'S MUTATED. Okay. I try to count my breaths and then remember that never works. Always leaves me more panicked. Rue from Euphoria was just autistic. That was literally it. Sometimes focusing on one of my special interests helps. I inhale a long sigh of a breath. How long has it been raining now? For hours. Usually I would be elated at rain like this. But things haven’t been like they usually were, and probably never will be again. I am a careless, stupid, fucking cunt. Oh there that goes again, the blaming. It's taken me months but at this point I can finally trace it back to somewhere. Three nights ago I had a dream that a gym teacher who was supposed to be my mother was hurling insult after insult at me, sneering at my pain. When I woke up I understood what my brain was trying to telegraph to me. But women are supposed to be good… the problem is just that we don't empower them. It's POURING now. Thundering on the roof. Seriously? This is a farce, surely. When does it ever rain like this in Southern California?! It's like every drop of the drought we’ve been in for the past….I don't know how long, it started before I got here, is being released from the sky at once. Like someone who withheld their love from you for years suddenly remembers every birthday, notices every single thing you like about yourself and tells you all the things you have been waiting to hear. From an ecological standpoint this can not be good. Dumping 2 years of rain onto barren soil is just a recipe for a mudslide. Sometimes things that look good, aren’t. There is such a thing as too much. The rain and the wind seems to be responding to my consideration of going outside. Of course, I know better. But just in case I was still thinking about it...a little flood channel opens at the bottom of my steps. At least my roof isn’t leaking. Yet. When the painters left this past week I noticed one of the support beams on the roof disintegrated when paint was applied to it. It's hollow but at least it's a nice shade of brown. The popcorn plaster has been bulging on my ceiling since before I moved in but surely that's just a cosmetic thing. I should turn on the heater. It really is freezing.
By Chelsea Anne Fawcett5 years ago in Humans
Little Black Book
The wind hit her face like hundreds of needles, her skin rose red and icy to the touch. “Warm thoughts, think warm thoughts,” she spoke softly to herself repeating this line as if by saying it enough would make it really happen. She laid curled in a fetal position bundled in a sleeping bag, her head on her backpack as a pillow and under two additional knitted blankets. The thick sleeping bag felt like a paper sheet under her as the cold concrete seeped through. The brick wall along the doorway of the library entrance had collected some heat during the daylight hours and created somewhat of a shield from the cold winds and traffic along the main road. It was a very cold winter this year but tonight was exceptionally cold compared to winter nights so far. It was February 1 and winter had practically just begun and at this point the cold concrete had been her bed for the last 4 months and 16 days already. It’s not that she hadn’t tried to find an alternative place to rest but circumstances did not seem in her favor this year. Another day passed and another night was taking over as she shivered into a deep, exhausted sleep.
By Jaimee Lee5 years ago in Humans
A Star Chart In Snapshots
Lacey’s sun is in Gemini, meaning that she is clever, curious, and has a quick wit. A Gemini Sun makes someone highly energetic, but this energy can be scattered or even come off as flaky at times. Her Gemini Sun is in the second house, giving her a strong interest in maintaining an eclectic personal style.
By Lacey Doddrow5 years ago in Humans
Good Neighbors
*tap* *tap tap* *tap tap tap* Grunting unhappily, Riley peeked out from under the covers and opened one eye. Blearily peering around the room, an unwilling resumption of consciousness was met with a firm knock at the brownstone apartment’s front door. The tapping at the first-floor bedroom window had clearly been a calculated effort to receive acknowledge of the uninvited guest’s presence.
By M.W. Fournier5 years ago in Humans
