Compensation Commensurate with Sacrifice
“They waited for the next frightened person to confuse survival with surrender.”
The Adventures of Aborted Andy | Episode I: Meeting Your Maker
Andy was good at his job. And for a nine-month-old baby, he was really good at it.
We're Letting You Go
"You know, people misunderstand Human Resources. They think we're here for employees."
The Emergency Exit
“Chuck had spent half his life mistaking another person’s pain for his assignment.”
The Broken Machine
Jack took a deep breath. "Why is it so easy for you to dismiss the truth for your convenience? You have to understand that the personal is political, right?
Wild One
They entered the open-brick condo eager to rip each other’s clothes off. Maria rubbed the front of Eric’s kakis, while he slid his fingers up her red bubble skirt. He tore her white blouse and sucked from her shoulders down to her fingertips. Maria unbelted Eric’s pants and chucked the leather across the room.
Blink
He blinked again. His cheek no longer soothed by the wooden floor beneath it. A wisp of intrusive dust drifted towards him, settling on his lashes. A laborious blink, his only remedy, then another, the particle unmoving.
Conversations with Whores
Old men with cheap cigars talking to half naked women, who can’t waste too much time with one guy because it’s all about turnover. Beyoncé was playing on the jukebox and it sounded out of place. Hip-Hop didn’t belong there. It was too cool for what was really going on.
Hagatha the Dog Witch
Hagatha, upon arriving in Chicago, had developed an allergy to cats. She tried Zyrtec, Claritin and Allegra, and all the potions and spells in her Witch Craft: Curses & Remedies book. Nothing helped. Her eyes watered, which made her face melt a little.
Roses of Aphrodite
She had the admiration of the gods and mortals alike. But the thorns of the rose were in her heart, and she longed for someone to remove them.
Grizzly
He lied there, the beast breathing slowly, and wondered what happened? Where was his wife? Did she do this to him? Why?
Jackie Walsh
From the porch, the two men listened to the thundering bass of rumbling trucks on journeys north and south along the Dan Ryan Expressway. To the west, Halsted teased out the melodies of car horns beeping and tires squealing, a harsh cacophony of symphonic summer street noises.
They smoked their tobacco.
Jackie Walsh
From the porch, the two men listened to the thundering bass of rumbling trucks on journeys north and south along the Dan Ryan Expressway. To the west, Halsted teased out the melodies of car horns beeping and tires squealing, a harsh cacophony of symphonic summer street noises.
They smoked their tobacco.
Today! Casey Basch Funeral!
CASEY BASCH – FUNERAL TODAY!
The exclamation mark had to be a mistake. Maybe it was a prank—the work of teenagers out the night before? There was probably a church sign somewhere in town that read JESUS LOVES DICK.
THE MANAGEMENT COUNCIL
Once the merger is announced, I’ll resign and ask them to do the same. They won’t suspect the truth.
The Cold Case
This situation is called a Gordian knot. It’s a devilish problem with no clear solution. You can’t untie a Gordian knot. You have to cut right through it.
Single Sided Love at First Sight
Frog found his soulmate. Scorpion had found a way out of her pattern. He asked her to marry him on their third date.
The Cold Case
I’m sure he killed my aunt. There’s no way she would’ve have killed herself and left him my cousins.
The Cereal Wish | Part 8
I turned back to the window. The drones hovered only a moment, then toured to the right to spy through another apartment window like hornets trying to find their way into a hive. Some bored dudes in quarantine were probably trying to score a peep show.
The Cereal Wish | Part 7
“Those motherfuckers—spying on me again,” I said.
“Who’s spying on you?” Sarah asked.
Monte imagined approaching the counter.
“Hello, I hear Morgan Freeman narrating my life.”