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Zayn Mohammed folded up his prayer mat and tucked it between his bed and sidetable. He saw his laptop and froze. He bit his lip as scowled. Extra prayer never seemed to neuter these dirty impulses. He turned and slowly closed the window through which he could see the spire of the mosque. The echoing evening prayers had ended 30 minutes ago. He tucked his slippers underneath the bed and climbed under the covers. He looked back at the laptop and chewed on his lips. An hour and

"Are you Louis?" "Yessir. Avery?" "That's me," I said as I climbed into the back seat of the old gold Accord. I closed the door behind me and situated my suitcase on the old stained tan fabric beside me. But he still didn’t go, just holding the steering wheel with his head turned just far enough to see me in his periphery. I said, "Uh... we can go. Just catching a flight." He nodded and affirmed, "Mm hm." But we still didn't move. Louis looked to be a 20-something year old fe

"We will crush your name." The scowling woman in a red power suit pointed at his face. "No one with the last name Romano will ever be hired in this city again." Claudio winced at her threats only slightly, and went back to looking mostly unbothered. So she threw at him: "Or in the entire nation!" A middle aged man across the boardroom table picked up where she left off. "Why would any sane lawyer ever tell a client that big that you--" He held up air quotes, "Don't align ethi

They had been married for 24 years, raised two kids and worked through three dogs, two houses and four careers cummulatively. His fury had been growing to this moment for about 14 of those years. “Do you want to talk about what’s wrong?” Marjorie asked her husband cautiously in the kitchen. He held a half-cracked egg over a pan as he turned to her. In a low, flat tone he said, “I’m just pretty furious.” “Okay,” she said, with a tremor in her voice. “Do you wanna tell me why?”

Steven Kelley finished reading his report to the nation at the press conference. "It's not ideal but if we do nothing. . ." He shifted and looked in vain for allies in the audience, "Well, we know the hospitalization rate has doubled each month since patient 0." He took a deep breath. "I will now take questions." "Sir!" a sharp male voice shot at him. "My source says the drug testing was not a full double blind study, and peer reviewers had concerns." Steven took a long drink

Savor one last drench in bed. Tempt yourself with coffee if that helps. Now slide from the covers: 4, 3, 2, 1... GO! But do not linger supine as life ticks away, lest one paint stroke of this creative life be missed. Yes, do carve out new innovations and travel to try new curries. But do not neglect home, where you have wrapped yourself with opportunities to love your people. Flirt and kiss and joke, as a rule. Share a smile, such an easy win. Craft sustainable habits that wi

At first I called the man scary. He had just walked past me outside of the QuikTrip. I flicked my cigarette at his heels. No one ever caught me. But he stopped, turned back to me and looked at me for a second. The scary part is the way he said what he said. "What do you want?" I said, "Keep moving, bitchboy." I always said something like this because everyone assumed I was homeless. But it was like the acidic words I used to push people away were raining down on an umbrella w

One day Parlo pulled up a chair across from the antique-framed 10 foot wide, and equally tall mirror built into the royal entrance hall. He tapped his cane down on the tiles, sending a heavy metallic echo into the windowed cupola poking up from the second floor ceiling. The short, balding, round-bellied 68 year old wearing a soil-stained vest and suspendered shorts was visibly uncomfortable in this building of immaculate luxury. He crossed his legs, put his empty pipe in his

"Grandma, I'm afraid I'll never be ready to marry him," Henrietta lifted her arms from the kitchen table in protest, "because I know he...