Ten Minute Reads
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Five Minute Read: Baser Thoughts
I feel bad. Well, I know I should feel bad, so I screw what I figure passes for a sympathetic expression on my face. Tears sparkle in the woman’s eyes—what was her name again? Annie? Angela? “…it was really quite an abusive relationship,” she says, her voice prattling on in a pitch that compliments her agitation: high and tinny. I tap my stockinged-clad foot on the carpet. One. Two. Three. “Of course, he’s trying to screw me over in court. And I don’t have much physical proof…” I glance down at the papers clutched in my lap before flicking my gaze to the coocoo-clock…
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Five Minute Read: Editing Poem
The developmental pass isbehind me. Comments litter the rightside of the computer screen. Taunting me,daring me to hurry up, finish! To write faster, better. Smoother.Don’t forget plot. Would your character actuallysay that? To him?No, no. Overdone. Clunky. Uninspired. The third draft is cleaner, and by the fourthI almost believe in my characters, in their motivations.Almost.Monday is bright: self-directed smirks and giggles at my own wit and talent.Rebounding as I stitch scenes together, shift one here,eliminate another all-together.Genuis, really.I deserve a glass of wine. Maybe two. Tuesday reaffirms my earlier fears—garbage.Imposter. Fraud.Craft and elements: elusive, fickle creaturesprovoking me, teasing me. A mirage. Maybe it’s good. Great, even.Perhaps it’s destined for the wastepaper basket. Tears stain my…
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Five Minute Read: The Prophecy
The sun winked through the pale pink curtains, casting the room in a cozy, almost romantic glow. Frowning at the thought, Beatrice considered that was probably not helping the situation. Shifting her eyes to the teenager in front of her, she stifled a sigh at the look of hopeful expectation on the round, rosy-cheeked face. “May I ask why you want one?” Beatrice said. Leaning across the counter of her shop, the long-sleeved velvet cloak enveloping her rippled under the last rays of the falling sun. Raising winged eyebrows, she pursed her lips in what she supposed was a mythical expression. “I’ve been in love with Bobby…
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Five Minute Read: Welcome to Paradise
For years, she’d wondered what it would be like. Sipping drinks with pink umbrellas in them; flouncing along in her slinky bikini as she waved her arms manically around her head, shouting hazily after newfound friends. If she’d wrinkled her nose, she could almost smell the dried salt, the syrupy scent of fabricated coconut, and the sweet tinge of mai-tais wafting amongst the pink-hued atmosphere. Of course, that was the problem with fantasies. They had a habit of paving the way for little more than the disappointments of reality. Scrimping and saving, dieting for months on end while she hotly denied herself a second glass of wine…
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Five Minute Read: It Was You
Miranda looked down at the cocktail beside her on the bar countertop. The heavy layer of condensation on the glass spoke for itself: she wasn’t actually interested in drinking it. Glancing around at the smattering of other bar patrons, she wasn’t even sure she wanted to be here. But then again, there was really nowhere else to go. “It’ll get better. I know the words are trite, but they’re true.” Glancing up at the words, Miranda tried to smile at Sam. Sam wasn’t just the bartender of The Oasis Bar, where she currently found herself, though he was certainly happiest when he was allowed to play the…
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Five Minute Read: You’re Here Now
She sighed, sticking her hands as far as they would go inside the front pockets of her jeans. She sorely wanted to check the time on her cell phone again, but it would have been pointless. She was keenly aware that three minutes had passed since the last time she looked. And the last time she’d looked, he was already ten minutes late. Not that being late ever mattered to him. Or being early. To him, time was little more than an annoying gnat that he’d just as soon dismiss as answer. Restless now, her right boot kicked aimlessly against the cracked pavement. A dying dandelion sprawled out between the…
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Five Minute Read: I’ll Stay
*(By the by: this story is being added to month-by-month on my newsletter. To subscribe, click here: https://bit.ly/3flHShN.) Reba didn’t bother to knock on the office door. She knew Erik was in there—she’d spied him going inside not five minutes earlier; hell, she’d known where he was all night. It was like radar with her. Scurrying down the service line, she’d taken herself to his door with unconscious delight. Now, her fingers settling over the knob, she pushed it open. The office was small, cramped. There was just enough room for a corner desk, two computers, a metal filing cabinet and one chair. Sitting atop the scarred, cheap veneer…
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Five Minute Read: Cheap Glass of Wine
Bemused wasn’t quite the word. Sitting around a wrought-iron table with a group of women she’d only known a matter of weeks, Katherine was utterly stupefied. Feeling the slight breeze of the evening descending on her flushed cheeks, Katherine was glad for the enveloping darkness. She should have never mentioned that she was single. She definitely shouldn’t have followed that up with a question about the local contractor, Dave, who’d recently asked her out. The women around her had hooted at the mere suggestion. “Dave? Good Lord, honey, you can do better than that,” Shannon had responded quickly. Beside her, sipping on a fresh glass…
