tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6946213548592274482011-07-07T18:00:22.983-07:00very short storiesAshleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13803736835213121021noreply@blogger.comBlogger91100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-694621354859227448.post-351636087766981632009-10-24T09:43:00.000-07:002009-10-24T09:51:42.147-07:00

I turned up, knocked on the door bearing nothing. No flowers, no bottle of wine, no melt-in-your-mouth truffles to carry her through one tedious moment to the next like a bridge. I was bundled against the winter night wind, it blew up my jeans and found my ankles while I waited. When she opened the door I saw immediately the sorrow, how weary she’d become from the pain of a floundering marriage.

Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13803736835213121021noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-694621354859227448.post-20353454806453769352009-05-03T18:31:00.000-07:002009-05-03T18:39:54.478-07:00

it should come as no surprise:the ESSENtial onemy ESSENcethe two words sharing like they doa simple matter of letters forming,a gatheringstrength in numbersthe sum totalgreater, more powerful than its partslike these twothe we that holds this house upright and steadythe beautiful total of twothe totality of the we---the sum of usthe essential onecomes to mewith dreams of sand and sweatwarm lips

Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13803736835213121021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-694621354859227448.post-39770506859018149592009-04-26T18:32:00.000-07:002009-04-26T18:36:11.010-07:00

AnnaAnna looked ahead at the shortening line and watched as the herd closed in on the airport security gate. Her intestines churned as a bead of sweat fell from the soft fold underneath her left breast. She knew she could have requested a private screening, but this would have belied her resolute belief in her body, the trust she has in its inherent strength and beauty. She removed her shoes and

Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13803736835213121021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-694621354859227448.post-781039869501389492009-04-19T18:38:00.000-07:002009-04-19T18:39:51.438-07:00

On December 22, 1983, Jarvis Meriwether made his way on foot to Craw County Hospital on the iciest night of the year. Craw County didn’t see much in the emergency room except broken bones and heart attacks. But tonight, Jarvis was bringing them a gun shot wound. The bullet had entered his hamstring and exited his quadricep. He could feel the blood in his socks, his flat foot sucking the wetness

Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13803736835213121021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-694621354859227448.post-10684173650806728842009-04-08T08:24:00.000-07:002009-04-08T08:25:00.363-07:00

I hadn’t planned on spending the night at IKEA. At least not at first. I was there that evening to buy the BOKIS book-ends. Clear polystyrene book-ends for $0.49. $0.49! I needed at least twenty. Getting out of the house had been hard. Jack was pissy, the kids needy, and by the time I got there it was already 8:45 and the store closed at 9:00. I’d seen them there a few weeks before in a bin, but

Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13803736835213121021noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-694621354859227448.post-82612868285531676292009-03-21T18:11:00.000-07:002009-03-21T18:20:29.342-07:00

Raised eyebrows and whispers rode on her long train as she walked out the church door. Only their eyes followed her. She continued down the street. If anyone were watching they would have seen her remove her shoes, place them neatly on the curb and continue up the hill where she stopped to stand.She did not see me---startled, unmoving, holding my breath. I crouched down low, leveled my back with

Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13803736835213121021noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-694621354859227448.post-28024553660840623682009-03-15T13:09:00.000-07:002009-03-15T15:05:43.637-07:00

Yesterday I think I fell in love with a man that works behind the food counter at K-mart and smells like hamsters. To be honest he looks a bit like a hamster too. His cheeks are fat and round and his upper lip arches so that his front teeth show all the time, not just when he’s smiling or talking.I’d never eaten at K-mart before. I was there to get a garden hose and gumballs for my penny machine

Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13803736835213121021noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-694621354859227448.post-71253034695382130322009-03-08T12:27:00.000-07:002009-03-08T12:33:08.644-07:00

below we could gobelow the surfacetender and rawrocks and rootsthey beckon uswhere cover awaitsand surrender is expecteddown we could goworms and mud alikethe world continues onthe drudgery and beauty--hand and hand like we twobeneath the sanda weighted blankethidden deep and darkbelow we could goaway and awayemerging is a mysterysilence and weightsilence and wait

Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13803736835213121021noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-694621354859227448.post-9221438102720174092009-03-08T12:08:00.000-07:002009-03-09T09:50:24.728-07:00

Loretta pushed the balls of her socked feet into the dashboard in front of the passenger seat, squeezing her quadriceps until they shook. She closed her gritty eyes and willed another car to emerge from the darkness. Something other than soft rock to float out of the radio. A new piece of gum to materialize in her dry mouth.The cold air coming off the window hung by her shoulder and upper arm.

Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13803736835213121021noreply@blogger.com0