humanity
For better or for worse, relationships reveal the core of the human condition.
The Bicycle
I didn’t learn to ride a bike until I was nine, an old man in bike riding years. I got a bike for my birthday a couple of years before that, but it just leaned against the wall in the carport, getting rusty. This wasn’t a cool, sporty bike like most kids had; that would come much later. It also wasn’t a ten-speed “racing bike,” with hand-brakes; that would come much, much later.
By Darryl Brooks5 years ago in Humans
A Bar Called Chances
I swear it was like a movie montage, but not in a good way. Everything that could go wrong today, surely did. I snoozed my alarm, overslept and was late to work. The boss did not like this. I left my lunch at home, and had a meeting with a terrible client. After work, hopped in my car to discover a dead battery. Got that bad boy jumped injust enough time to get home and ready for my date tonight.
By Catie Bargerstock5 years ago in Humans
The Little Black Book
Sasha, crept along, mindful of every step he was to take from now on, he was tiring, and lost. Hiking boots, heavier by the minute, crunched the slippery gravel beneath him, feet blistering to pain. The squelch of socks to shoes an agonising rub at every step. The moon shone a path forward in the scrubby territory, between each monsoonal deluge. Overhanging clouds darkening with every step. His skin had turned raw from the harsh Australian sun over the days, now a burning prickle from every missile that fell from the sky. If only he’d not left so late to get back to the campground. Claps of thunder, and lightning strikes doused the dins of the wilderness, he was after all in dingo, crocodile, wild bull, and snake territory, and God knows what else surrounded him. Life could be worse, back in Seattle, fighting his wife, who’d reaped all his assets from the divorce. He had to get away, if he was lost in wild country, he was lost. So be it. This was a different lost, a better one, and if he disappeared from the face of the earth, what would it matter? No car, no home, left with just enough to escape the cold, relentless, grey winter of Washington. Yes, this was a better place to be.
By Nicole Nugent5 years ago in Humans
Hate, it’s appropriate
Mama always said hate is a strong word. But, it’s appropriate. I hate you. She said it means you wish the person never existed, or you wish death on them. Again, appropriate. I hate you. With a passion. I hate you so much, I wish you didn’t exist, I wish you death a thousand times over, I wish you to die a slow and agonizing, painful horrible death.
By Mindy Best5 years ago in Humans
When snow feels like God's art
It is so chilly this morning... This fabric sarcophagus you're looking at, it is a proud composition of 2-duvet layers, 2 perpendicular memory pillows, and a secret hot water encrypted bag, a magic bag, that can disappear from view, when this bed very very rarely welcomes unlisted adventurous guests...
By Jane Kumada5 years ago in Humans
Misfortune's Mischief
Every day, at precisely 6:35am, Nikolai Metrovski's rusty analog clock clings and clangs him awake. Every day, at precisely 6:36am, Nikolai Metrovski begins hating his day, before rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and sitting up on the side of his bed. In one deft move, Nikolai grabs the old clock, flips the switch in the back turning off the alarm, and tosses it over his shoulder into the overflowing laundry bin on the other side of his bed. Opening his bedside table drawer, he pulls out a crinkled bag of dollar store coffee grounds to fill the old coffee machine his mother gave him, and tries to be thankful that at least he has running water.
By Sara Thomas5 years ago in Humans
Maybe You Too Can Become a Superhero Like Ironman With the Right Push
How do we push each other or ourselves to succeed or just keep going? Whatever drives us to succeed matters, whether it's a small push or a big push. Any push goes a long way. Think of the time you were a small child on a swing. you didn’t know how to get going, weren’t strong enough and legs weren’t long enough to create locomotion. you would get frustrated, cry, kick, scream or just yell out for help. You would ask for a push. We all needed a push at some point and asking for help was encouraged.
By Misha Trubs5 years ago in Humans
Day 76. Top Story - February 2021.
The first thing I remember about the day that changed my life is opening my eyes and seeing fluorescent lights above me. I couldn’t turn my head in either direction without feeling an intense pain shooting down my spine, so I kept looking up at the fluorescent lights. There’s no reason for you to know this, but I hate fluorescent lights. I don’t know who created them, but I wish they stayed home that day. I remember realizing I was in a hospital, but I don’t remember how I got there. I remember lying on that hospital bed for what felt like an hour before a nurse came in to check on me. It could have been ten minutes, it could have been thirty seconds, but to me, it felt like an hour. Nevertheless, my nurse was finally here.
By Nicole Robinson5 years ago in Humans
