Fences Harold needed fences–so did everyone else, he believed. Good fences make good neighbours, no matter who your neighbours are. Although he felt a bit lonely. Harold had a physical fence around his house—wood-appearing plastic pickets—but he also had a metaphorical fence around himself. At work he was polite but few intruded—they sensed his invisible […]
Civilization Is Worth It The war in the Middle East had stretched into three years. The President who started it had retired, but the war continued. The politicians who supported the President were not re-elected, but the war continued. Wars take on lives of their own from the lives they destroy. Everyone believed civilization was […]
You Feel Unsettled You know there were many ways you felt unsettled–and what they are. Extreme politics unsettle you. Approaching storms unsettle you. Death from the sky unsettles you. War unsettles you. For Martin, most unsettling in his life was chicken fried rice. Waking with a vague feeling of something wrong, worse as the morning […]
Disconnect Norman, 26, felt disconnected. He worked in an office where he did not often speak with colleagues, even then it was company-speak, unreal in itself. Much of his work was online, he communicated through emails and texts. Zoom calls where he saw faces felt too personal. He lived in a studio apartment in a […]
Dan Lacks Drive His life was quiet, never loud. Dan was comfortable but knew life could be better. He knew, sitting at his kitchen table eating leftover pasta, he lacked drive. Successful people were driven—empowered by a compulsion to succeed, to ignore anything not on point. Comfortable and compulsion do not mesh. He painted–was good–but […]
Spring And New Politicians Spring was coming and Harold decided to plant politicians in his garden. He was unhappy with the current crop of politicians—he wanted to grow better ones. He had new seed packets: conservative and liberal. As he planted the seeds, each in their own row, he was impressed with how they looked […]
Vacationing Ain’t Easy It was overnight at a resort by a large lake. The hotel was luxurious, featuring indoor and outdoor pools heated by hot underground springs. A tourist destination, plentiful with restaurants and shops. It would be cool–it was early April and the lake was in the north, by the mountains. He looked forward […]
The Presidential Cabinet’s Makeover The Presidents’ Cabinet members were deeply concerned. The President had abruptly fired one a month ago, a few days ago he abruptly fired a second. Heads were on the line. They had slavishly followed his orders, desperately tried to meet his needs. As the President increasingly absorbed power, the Constitution was […]
Belinda And Compromise Belinda knew what she smelled affected her. Aromas created joy or alarm, energized or exhausted. She thought of moving but there was nowhere to go–everywhere had aromas she had to avoid because they degraded her, wearied her, repulsed her. She could not avoid breathing. She avoided smelling the unpleasant, masking aromas she […]
Ingrid’s Top Ten Recreational Drugs Ingrid’s number one favourite recreational drug was sugar (it was not her true number one.) Sugar gave her a solid high and she considered it a great drug (except for the cavities and false teeth.) Ingrid’s second favourite was caffeine. It certainly delivered powerful energy and kept her solid in […]
Crash Arnold was distracted for only a second, searching for Gimme Shelter on his car’s USB, when he felt a huge bump and a huger crunch sound. Not the horrendous sound of metal shoved against itself, an awful screech, but a crunch, followed immediately by a thud. The thud was followed by a large sound […]
Forsaken Vegetables Sitting in the bag, the string beans never felt they belonged. The peas and corn were thrilled to be frozen and packaged. But the string beans took longer to cook than the others and often came out tough. The string beans wanted to be easy to eat—and, if possible, by themselves, but few […]
Riding The Environment Phillip and Martha built a very unusual balloon for a very unusual purpose. Powered by helium, it could reach great heights. They could control up and down, nothing else. Hung below the balloon was a small cabin with windows and leather straps on the ceiling and walls. Today Philip and Martha stepped […]
Arnold And Cooking Arnold loved the taste of properly cooked food but, lately, cooking depressed him. Creating meals from recipes was no longer fun. He had to eat, but what was he eating? It started with food dyes. He enjoyed red cupcakes, but learned the dyes were carcinogenic. Then butter, which no longer became soft […]