What else am I not seeing? — There’s something in my water. I don’t see anything, but I know I swallowed something, felt it slither downward. Did someone spit in my water bottle, but I just opened it. The clear water mocks me as I stare at it, wondering what lies within its surface? Will I find…

Next time someone asks, “Would you like some chocolate, Charlie,” say, NO. — There is nothing like a piece of chocolate, especially if you’re not supposed to have any caffeine, but you make a deal with your cardiologist that you won’t have any caffeine except for chocolate. Deal, and I love my chocolate. And I make sure that I have chocolate because if…

And AI is that annoying, fucking hare. — I had once said in another article that January and February are the dead months, the months, where last year curls up and dies while the new one slowly unfolds. It’s still slowly unfolding. It’s the second weekend of March, and I am crawling along, trying to get a feel…

Don’t Rewrite My Words — “That line is not mine,” I said. “But you wrote the story?” They asked. “Yes, I wrote the story.” “So, that line is yours.” “It was mine,” I said, “But you changed my words.” “We did.” No regret in their tone. “I did not write the line like that,” I…

Then Maybe, Dying Would Not Be So Bad — The weight of Death presses down on us, every day, making it harder to carry forward, but we struggle to breathe, to live. We have to hope, hope that despite the mistakes that we have made, we did something right. At least, one thing. Please, tell me that I did…

Hate Week belongs and only belongs to that world and not ours. — Someone compared my short stories to the book, 1984. Have you ever read it? No, I never read any of George Orwell’s stories, but you got me curious now. I bought a copy off Amazon and started to read it, and as I did, I realized that the society that…

An Open Letter To NY State Senator James Skoufis — It’s barely seven a.m. at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital. The sun isn’t even awake yet. Snow and rain is falling outside, and it’s falling pretty good, a reminder that winter continues. Footsteps echo across the tiled floor, staff reporting for duty. …

Thrifty Words 100 Challenge #90: Thinking —

The subway ride is the best Horror Show in the city. — There’s too many people in here, but it only takes one. No seats, so I’ll stand. But should I remain by the doors? What if I’m shoved out when they open again? So much fear highlighted under pale lights. Don’t make eye contact. It could set one off. Next stop. We…