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Proof of Life
“Since then, I’ve begun to feel slightly disturbed, certainly more so than I used to, when these flashes of the outside world get through the gates. An antenna had sprouted out of my skull, sending surges of electricity through my nerves whenever it detected an aberration.”
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A Man is Defined by his Actions
Having finally made his decision after weeks of deliberation, including long sessions of pacing, breaking into sprawling, silent walks from his apartment to the piers to the bridge to the square and then back, all the while considering implications and ramifications and whether it would be stronger to or stronger not to, and if strength…
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The Bucket
At 99 years old, Poppa is more scowl than man. Death it seems has forgotten about him, letting him linger and decay far past what can be natural. His life, far past being led, is endured and he swears to himself that he’d end it all himself if he found the impossible strength to swallow…
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Schrödinger’s Lottery
“Maybe it was the cheap thrill of furiously scratching them with a quarter, and seeing all those shimmery silver shavings pile up.”
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Submarine Story
“He reached out again to the metal, which seemed to bend out towards him too, its soft surface embracing his hand once more. The chain rang out again in the cold, cutting wind, which swirled around him.”
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Brief Interviews with Terrified Men
“Well, look here. Your grandma started out with a neurologist at Sound Shore. An older gentleman by now, recommended, respected, you know what I’m saying to you. She gets dizzy sometimes. Dad tells you when she goes to the hospital.”
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My Month on Meat
“Don’t you think that things can be made special by being indescribable? That there’s a certain divinity in that?”
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Allen’s New Kettle
“For a moment, Allen just stared at the kettle. The room felt smaller, like the air had thickened. He thought of Ryan, of work, of losing the job, and the apartment, and everything else, and then looked back at the kettle’s bright little screen, now a meadow in the wind, calm, and endless.”