Category: Uncategorized
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Hank and Cass
INT. BAR – NIGHT Cass, 18, enters the bar and takes a seat one stool down from Hank, 27. She empties the contents of her purse onto the bar. A crumpled cigarette rolls in front of Hank. He tries to scoot it back to her side of the bar. She notices him, and she reaches…
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A Rewritten Life
First came the questions. Why hasn’t he crawled? Walked? Talked? Milestones missed. Every other child in Mommy and Me passing him up. Was I just being a nervous first-time mother? My heart told me I wasn’t. The teacher took me aside. “Call the regional center. See what they have to say. What could you lose?”…
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Songs for Night Driving
(first two chapters) Chapter 1 Nine months ago I stood under the full moon. “Thank you for being so beautiful.” I thought looking up, straining my neck, unable to look away as its light burned into my eyes as bright as the sun. It was 2:30 am and the cicadas had long since fallen quiet.…
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Incidentals
(first two chapters) Chapter 1 Los Angeles was an ugly place. A dirty city stitched together in haste. Concrete and asphalt thrown up by dreamers and schemers who couldn’t be bothered with such things as adequate sewer systems. Every downpour clogged what sewers there were with plastic bags, discarded shoes or any trash tossed without…
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The Road of Happy Destiny
(First two chapters) Chapter 1 It isn’t like TV or movies. We never sit in a circle and the coffee isn’t free. At this meeting a donation of $1 is strongly encouraged. Long, brown tables fill the musty room and circles of cold fluorescent light bounce off their surface. Outside a helicopter flies low, buzzing…
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Powerball
Last night Sebastian kissed me. Or did I kiss him? This morning his bed was empty except for a blank check resting on his pillow. The same check he’d been holding over me the past six months. The cursive signature at the bottom so perfect it could have been a font. He tracked me down…
Bethany Lopez 