Loni always got big, sticky thoughts lodged in her noggin when her sister came to visit. Loni was more used to the type of stuff normally on her mind, like getting to work on time, and how she was going to pay for her California dream vacation. Then Big Sis would pop in and…

Gary wasn't much of a join-along guy, but he thought of himself as a team player just the same. He was the brightest one in the bunch, for sure, and people did call Gary "the guy with an answer for everything." If one of his answers made it so someone could get the job done,…

Bertha was happy for the gentle June rain that plonked against the dusty road out of Dodge. She'd had to act quickly. There was no time for a pre-flight meal, or to sufficiently hydrate her once voluptuous body that was now sharp angles and skin. Stress and unhappiness reduced Bertha to a nearsighted shadow on…

Bertha heard it all. Cow. Sow. Fattest Girl In The World. Torment and taunts were the daily diet. Spoon-fed by fear, Bertha's penpals were the last gals to cast aspersions on one of their own. Maybe it was because she was confident by nature. Bertha took life in stride and didn't allow negativity to poison…

  When the spots and dark thoughts send Alison free-falling to the bottom of the wishing well, Alison calls in sick and immerses herself in quiet pursuits; safe things. Well-supplied with books and cake, Alison is set with the only nourishment that gives her strength to climb out of the mire.

Everyone was in a hurry. The rhythm of herds locked in a rush to get to work, and back home again, made Alison's skin break out in raised, pink spots. Her irritated skin didn't respond well to makeup, and any attempt to hide the blemishes made Alison's face look overcooked and crumbly. She hated to…

…and a lot of sawing going on. Now some pounding. I think dartboards with sports logos. Sell them at swap meets. Street fairs. And Beulah's barrel things for when after you smoked your cigarette. There's a wood sign on the barrel, but it's not really wood. It's just some design she paints on particle board…

Barbara stood off to the side and watched her colleagues queue up for platefuls of cookout fare served at unsafe temperatures. She'd grabbed a quick bite on the way to her company's annual Employee Appreciation picnic. The stench and tumidity of cheap wieners floating in dirty water always made Barbara queasy, but people sure did…

"My mind has been infected with the fallacy that I can describe, in perfect detail, all which exists in the interior world. This cannot be done. I have failed before the first word drips from my pen. Thus, my experimentation with the limitations of the human brain continues." – Gary Q. on why he left…

Gary was happiest when he could lose himself in the comforting familiarity of the mundane, like going around the yard picking up Scruffy's turds. The physical task was manageable; objective clear. Comforted by a daily routine, Gary let go of all the anxiety that trapped him in the past, or propelled him forward in time…