literature
Whether written centuries ago or just last year, literary couples show that love is timeless.
Alone
I have not spoken to a person in months. I just couldn’t take the looks of pity from my friends and family. It has just been Sam and me, and he does not offer much in conversation.
Rosa MuellerPublished 3 years ago in HumansMol's Voice
Mol’s hands still stung, raw fingers flexing nervously at her sides as she waited in line with the rest of her classmates. Her mother always insisted on clean hands. Obsessively so. No child of hers left the house without scrubbing themselves from elbow to fingertip with those awful bars of lye, as if they could scour away their poverty as easily as the dirt beneath their fingernails. Her mother was convinced, for reasons that eluded Mol, that if her children’s hands were clean then no one would notice the ill fitting shirts with mismatched buttons, or the darned elbows on threadbare blazers, or the slap slap slap of too big Oxfords that “You’ll grow into,” and “You’d better not come home with those scuffed up!” Glancing down now, Mol rubbed the toe of her right shoe against the back of her calf, just to be safe.
E S SoppittPublished 3 years ago in HumansCommission
She lightly traces the gold etched “1952” on the leatherette cover of a small black notebook. “42 years before I was born,” she marvels. “An uncle I never knew existed is about to change my life forever.”
L J PurvesPublished 3 years ago in HumansGraced
Her feet were on fire. It was the burning that had disrupted Grace’s sleep so abruptly this morning, but it was the realization that today’s event had come to fruition so quickly that made her bolt wide awake. As she lay on her back in bed, she could feel the burning through the sheets but didn’t bother to turn on the light or lift the cover to look at her tortured feet. She knew she could no longer deny what was happening. And to her, the problem wasn’t what was happening but rather why.
Cheshe HawkinsPublished 3 years ago in HumansThe Seeing
The Seeing For many of us, something lingers on from first love. For me, Jonny lingers. Although the bad things about Jonny are what had me go, he taught me lessons that have always lived on. One of the best lessons he taught me was seeing. Up until Jonny, I never looked deep enough to be fully alive. Mostly, I skimmed the surface of a feeling, or glanced quick at a sunsetting sea. I missed the intricacies of life’s scenes that evoke the meaning I’d been seeking.
cheryl ListerPublished 3 years ago in HumansGifts
Scott splashed through a puddle and looked over his shoulder to see his younger sister shuffling her feet in preparation to jump. He hoisted the small girl onto his shoulders, eliciting gleeful giggles. It took him several strides to cross the recently flooded streets. Autumn leaves packed the runoff drain creating small ponds against the sidewalk.
Benny ShlesingerPublished 3 years ago in HumansAn Abnormally Overcast Day
On the abnormally overcast day for LA, Ilya pulled the hoodie over his shaggy hair. His empty hands went into the empty pockets of his jeans, as he pushed through the weighty feeling of disappointment trying to sink him. There was still three more miles on his journey and the pavement was just meeting a hill.
Tully TemplemanPublished 3 years ago in HumansBeneath The Hawthorn Tree
It began with a letter—or, perhaps it is more accurate to say it was a note, a gallop of lines strung out on the page, quickly done, but by a confident hand, with a swollen cursive unabashed at the swallowing of space. The edge of the sheet was uneven, crumpled, quickly gathered up and torn, and on turning it over, I found it to be the contents page of a book, a translation of Hesiod’s Works and Days. Inexplicably I felt a flicker in the back of my mind at this, like that of an old memory yawning—a light flaring on in a dark window. Flipped back over and smoothed, I read:
Mia FrancisPublished 3 years ago in HumansThoughts Worth Writing
A long time ago, I met a man in a small country bar. This is his story. It’s about love and heartbreak. * “Five years together and even after I forgave Evie for cheating on me she left again. I thought we moved on from the whole cheating thing, but now with her gone again the whole thing just makes me sick. That’s what I mean when I say love hurts.”
Abby HimesPublished 3 years ago in HumansThe Resident
I think this is rock bottom. I’m still a little drunk, heels in hand, hobbling home to my third-floor cave. Just last weekend, I told myself that I would never wake up next to Chris again but here I am doing the walk of shame once more. There’s a wad of mail in front of my door since I’ve failed to retrieve it for weeks now. My headache swells as I bend down to scoop it up. I hate my life.
Tosin SanusiPublished 3 years ago in HumansIrony
My eyes have been adjusted to the gloomy color that heavily possesses this cold and hungry room. The first day those guys chained me to a chair in here it reeked of filth and a strong but addicting whiff of paint. Is this someone's basement? Pure observation is at a disadvantage considering the only source of light comes from a dim orange lamp that hangs on the corner of the wall about a meter to my left. This room is mostly empty, excluding the several dark shapes that I can barely identify. One thing I must pinpoint is the past presence of other people.
Kalina XiongPublished 3 years ago in HumansFree Wheel
The sound of honking cars hit Kofi with the heavy waft of gasoline vapors. He rolled the window back up and shifted behind the steering wheel. Even with the buttons of his khaki uniform undone, he still felt the overwhelming heat trace its way down his neck and steadily form two yellow puddles under each of his armpits. But he dared not touch the blue monitor control panel to turn on the air conditioner. His muscles still tensed when he thought back on the resounding slap from Mr. Korede after he had kept the air conditioner on for too long. “Mr. Kofi,” he had threatened afterwards, “if you care to act like an Alahji, you can start looking for another job.” When he drove out of the compound that day and gave a half-hearted nod to the usual guards at the front gates, he had thought that maybe he would.