literature
Whether written centuries ago or just last year, literary couples show that love is timeless.
Someone Who Cares
Earnest rolls out of the left side of his bed. The right side has been blocked off with emotional red tape. He sits hunched over the left edge, digging the drying eye goo deeper into his eye crevices. Snap, crackle, pop and he’s up. He shoves his smartphone into his basketball short’s pocket, before heading over to the kitchen where he will pop the K-cup into the Keurig. The machine whirs to life and Earnest mentally berates himself for contributing to the global environmental crisis.
By Arianna Irwin5 years ago in Humans
Welcome to the Interdimensional Convenience Store
“Sir,” I said. “Sir, you can’t do that.” A large lyrebird, which was currently eating straight from a cereal box two aisles over, looked up. He trained his beady eyes on me and cocked his head to the side. He crushed a piece of cereal with his talons. I flipped to the next page of the fashion magazine I was reading.
By Taylor Larson5 years ago in Humans
A Great Deal Better
"You look so much like her. I think we can pull it off," Arlo insisted. Lydian stared at the weathered black and white photo Arlo found tucked in the back pocket of the notebook he took from their elderly neighbor. The photo was of a young woman with a dark, curly bob and pale eyes reclining on a sofa. Lydian was struck by the way the woman stared at the camera, or rather through the camera, like she was gazing into the eyes of her lover.
By Amy Jokinen5 years ago in Humans
Fairground Attraction
It was our first date and, as if we weren't in our fifties but in our teens, we headed down the shore from different New Jersey towns to go on the rides, play Skee-Ball, and make out on the beach. Kids, dogs, jobs--a night at Seaside had not happpened in our lives for decades. Is there anything better than sliding across the vinyl seat of the Himalaya and being caught in a boy's arms while you're both laughing?
By Donna Raskin5 years ago in Humans
Unearthed
Rika packed her small black notebook and pen into the pocket of her radiation suit - gearing up to go outside for her weekly scavenge for life above ground. She took a quick look around her small cell, at the small bed in the corner, the bookshelf that only held small treasures she'd found outside, and at the rug she'd fashioned out of moss. The compound was more like a prison than a home - at least that's what her grandmother had told her when she was young. Rika had spent all of her life living underground since she'd been born after the war and was only allowed to go to the surface once a week to avoid prolonged exposure to potential radiation. The war had happened when her grandmother was young and only lasted a couple of weeks since the nukes had been deployed from almost every country that had them, but the after effects lasted well beyond that. It had already been 50 years since the end of world war three.
By Courtney Hendrickson5 years ago in Humans
Little Black Book
Ivy made herself a coffee and began cleaning her apartment from the night before. She tidied the papers on her coffee table so she could sit and read her morning newspaper. She discovered a leather-bound black book. She knew this was not hers and assumed it had been left by someone the night before.
By Jenna Jones5 years ago in Humans
Off the Dock
The water on the lake was smooth as glass when Gabby and her husband Ben made their way down to the shoreline to fish. The plan was to waste some time while waiting to meet up with Ben’s crazy family for a laid back action packed afternoon and evening. The week long founding celebration the town put on each summer was something she always looked forward to. Even before she got married. Somehow after she and Ben got together it became tradition to spend the day with his family at the lake and fight over which spot to anchor the boat from to have an optimal view of the fireworks. It was honestly one of her favorite annual traditions. There was also the festival food which could be found in various spots around the lake and in the last couple years, on food boats floating in between. The food consumption may be regretted tomorrow. Or not. Because festival food is delicious, evil and should be enjoyed to the fullest when one faces it. Gabby was prepared to take the hit when the time came.
By Kerry Lettelleir5 years ago in Humans
The Mysterious Mailbox Message
Ernest never meant to become a gravedigger. But then again, he thought, it’s not the kind of thing anyone ever means to become. He wiped his forehead with the damp cloth he always kept in his back pocket, and sat back on his heels to reexamine the little, black notebook on the ground.
By Katie Ironoxide5 years ago in Humans
Under the Willow Tree
Cassandra Waterman was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1870 to a tailor father and a housemaid mother. Since the age of 4 her mother insisted on teaching her to read and write. From the moment she started to put words on paper, she knew her true calling was to be a writer.
By Denise Galea5 years ago in Humans
