Author Archives: sputterpub

Bed (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on March 26, 2014 by sputterpub

Laurel continued to love that bed after she stopped loving Tom. But the mattress failed a year later, exactly when she put the house on the market. She had to empty it of water and fill the frame with pillows … Continue reading →

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Bed (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on March 25, 2014 by sputterpub

Laurel disliked her childhood bed. She was one of those kids who never needed to sleep much, and her mother was one of those parents who believed in a child’s bedtime for the parents more than for the child, so … Continue reading →

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Tumbleweed

Posted on March 24, 2014 by sputterpub

The plant matures to arid as days pass, withstands the wind more weakly every week till pummeled and untethered, makes a mass that tumbles free and frolicsome: a freak and vagabond that travels whither when and how the currents of … Continue reading →

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Infant Wisdom

Posted on March 21, 2014 by sputterpub

The zircons in my lunch companion’s ears are much too large for Saturday at noon. Transparent as her ego, false as tears of petulance, each signals like the moon at dawn: a circle empty as a hole against a surface … Continue reading →

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PGIO (3 of 3)

Posted on March 20, 2014 by sputterpub

Doug and Charles were completely different, was El’s first idea when she considered the question. One was a hippie and the other was straight about everything but sex. One was a lefty liberal and the other voted Republican. One was … Continue reading →

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PGIO (2 of 3)

Posted on March 19, 2014 by sputterpub

She had married for the first time a year after college. Doug had been her closest friend, and five years of their ten were good. They tried grad school, started their first real jobs, bought their house, birthed their three … Continue reading →

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PGIO (1 of 3)

Posted on March 18, 2014 by sputterpub

El was thinking about her brother’s love life while she exercised. She should have been focusing on the warm-up portion of the program that was playing in front of her. If she was thinking at all, it should have been … Continue reading →

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Street Work

Posted on March 17, 2014 by sputterpub

At each end of the block are posted signs. The city workers wave the cars away while sewer experts drill through asphalt: lines investigating how the waters play that pop the uphill disks for overflow, precipitating toilet paper curds. Descending … Continue reading →

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Deals

Posted on March 14, 2014 by sputterpub

I get it now: I made a big mistake – assessing my relationships as deals we cut together thinking we could make a thorough interaction that reveals our selves in full. And so we struck our pact, in voices two … Continue reading →

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Psychic Hygiene (End)

Posted on March 13, 2014 by sputterpub

Tracy enters the office after James ends the call from Gus. She closes the door and leans against it. Her skirts aren’t as short as they were before the event, but she still shows a shapely leg, knee-down. “The Giannis … Continue reading →

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