I checked the hurt on my tongue. It was hard not to respond in kind, a struggle to not spit red-hot knives aiming for the open wound on her heart.

No.

I wouldn't do that. She's hurting enough already. Even through the internet I could feel it bleeding o…

“Why are you here.”

Wasn't it obvious? There were lines around the block to sign up for the E.D.C. and had been ever since the attack that melted southern California. “To fight aliens, same as you.” I tried to keep the irritation out of my voice but knew…

Everything was wrong. I didn't want to be Thomas Tinsley. He looked like a dope. It took effort not to snatch the driver's license back and toss the whole wallet into the woods.

Into the woods.

That thought brought images, feelings, and sounds. Leaves, …

I'm a monster.

Every time I share my real feelings I upset those that I tell them to. They fight, they get angry, they take on my monster spawn emotionally inside themselves and struggle to disperse it. My monster has babies that grow and fester and infe…

I awoke with a start to noise from downstairs: a series of thumps punctuated by broken glass, as if someone had tipped out the contents of my liquor cabinet.

Throwing on my camisole, I slipped through my bedroom door and crept among the darkness of the u…

I watched as you moved into a shotgun house with one bedroom and a yard only big enough for a shed. You were too busy to find a place on your own, anyway.

But I saw the truth.

In a tiny house, no one can stay the night. No one can stay unannounced. N…

I'll get to the point yea, right away

I'm having trouble handling my life today

I've been ridiculed, mocked, and I've been clocked

And I have no defense, my senses locked

I've been disrespected, my pride is all infected

The world in online life reflected

…

It was hard to swallow her pride and her real feelings. Seeing that huge smile and those two brown eyes so crinkly with joy warmed her heart. She loved Mr. Brown Eyes. Seeing the two blue eyes above two rosy cheeks and a line of baby teeth was supposed to…

“My names Lennart Larsson. I'm looking for the occupant of 163 C.”

“Goddamnit, Lenny.” A disgusted voice said.

Lenn's gut twisted. The voice belonged to Liv's brother, Ruger. What was he doing here? He didn't even live in Japan. Still, he rallied gamely…

It makes me angry to think that I can never have you and angry that I'm acting like a child. I'm angry that my dreams are crushed and angry that life goes on and you can go on without me.

That's what hurt the most; knowing that I can be forgotten in the …

I hear her words, but I'm listening to their interpretation, screaming liar in my head.

Words are all shiny and sympathetic when they are sarcastic as well as genuine. It's hard to tell the difference. She was so much like someone I used to know, I co…

"But you're a fairy Godmother!" screamed Cinderella before collapsing on her bed and sending a dozen birds tittering out of her window. She began to sob. It was all right there before her, the castle, the perfect life, the perfect husband, and just like t…