My uncle with his trumpet. My two oldest cousins on the flute. The middle one on a clarinet. Her sister on a recorder, because she only just started lessons. There was a man with a trombone too, a great uncle perhaps? He was bald and wrinkly and always smiling, even…

If waiting was ever fun, it was here, in this place, as one of many snaking their way past flimsy fences in a long row. …

There’s a joke in one of Terry Pratchett’s books that Dwarfs have no word for rock. They do have two hundred words that identify the different kinds of rock. It’s a joke I always think of when I set out to make a pasta dish. Do the Italians have a…

Carl and Jamie ran into the living room, howling with laughter. Both of them collapsed on the couch, Jamie clutching his phone to his chest. They were laughing so hard they were gasping for air. Mom came in a few seconds after them and shot them a death glare before…

I don’t think anyone in the family knows when the war started. I don’t think Jasper and Jade themselves remember what started it. By now it doesn’t even matter anymore. It’s been going on too long. Too many things have happened. My brother and sister are twins and as different…

On the corner of serendipity and tragedy — The city is at it’s best on rainy nights. That’s my personal opinion. I honestly am at a loss why others don’t share it — why rain gets described with words like “miserable” and “dreary”. Have they ever actually been out on the streets in the rain…

Jack knew what was coming as soon as he saw the look of horror creep on his wife’s face. She dropped the package like the plastic burned her hands. “Jack, no.” He let out a deep sigh. “If you have a better solution, I’m all ears.” Ester scowled at him…

“Mister Andrews?” The nurse didn’t even bother to step all the way into the waiting room. She just peeked her head around the door and glanced towards the waiting patients. Most of which had their nose buried in their phones. Charles thought he could remember a time the nurse would…

“Why did you pick this ugly brown?” I got down from the stepladder and studied the wall in front of me. “It’s not brown,” I explained to my daughter, “It’s a warm gray. It’s called Taupe.” She looked at me, looked at the wall and shrugged. “It’s brown,” she announced…

The alarm didn’t go off, but her body was still in the habit of waking at 5 am. She stumbled out of bed and was halfway to the bathroom before she realized she could have just turned over and gone back to sleep. A week before that had sounded like…

A tragic tale of a beer that got emptied before its time — This is the story of one brave beer that was made with a factory defect. While it stood, round and proud, among the other beers in its six pack, it was hiding a weak spot in it’s aluminum. As it struggled to hold itself together under the pressure, it feared…

For a Dutch yard sale addict like me, April 27th is the best day of the year. The whole country is turned into one big market. You’ve probably seen people get a little crazy about Black Friday shopping, but that’s nothing compared to Kingsday enthusiasts. My mother and I have…

The pen is mightier than the sword — For the first couple of hours an orchestra had provided the sort of elegant classical music one expected of a gala. At it’s wildest, a couple of guests had gotten dizzy from spinning too much while waltzing. …

Beatrix had a weakness for — some might say an addiction to — yard sales and garage sales. But this wasn’t just some yard sale. This was an Estate Sale. This was a “Grandma just kicked the bucket, and no one wants this junk in their house” sale. …

A short story — Huh. It’s like a bicycle chain with little blades. I’m not sure what I expected. I mean, chainsaw is pretty much self explanatory, isn’t it? Okay, so the saw is filled up with gas, I got my protective clothing, everything is covered in tarp. Should I have covered the ceiling…

He hadn’t been wrong, per se. It’s just that he hadn’t thought it all the way through. Hadn’t looked at it from every angle. Hadn’t considered every option. So his conclusion had been, shall we say, incomplete? And that was okay, sometimes these things escape us. Thinking gets a little…

Preparation was key in these kinds of undertakings, she knew from experience. Simply beginning would almost guarantee that something was going to prevent her from finishing what she started. She was pretty sure she had everything covered this time. A Tupperware container filled with fresh fruit and a little jar…

The situation was serious enough to interrupt the golf game of the big man himself. Mister Le Blanc didn’t look happy about it at all. He came into the waiting room with big, aggressive strides. Brenda from HR was struggling to keep up. …

The staff in the Botica were all women. It was easy to see why women would want to work at a Botica. We were open from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm; twelve hours divided in two shifts of six hours each. Just two hours over a part time job, with…

The last few drops of wine are still in the glass. Next to the ashtray with the crushed butt of the last cigarette. Leave it. It can wait till morning. With the water, the soapsuds slide down my body and take it all with them. The sweat, the dust, the…