The ring of the Blackberry startled Lily. It was after midnight, but she was still up—would be for a couple of hours yet. The caller ID read “Azalea”. Lily knew what she would hear on the other end. “Lily? It’s me.” “Zaya, what’s wrong?” Lily asked. Azalea had pronounced her name “Zaya” as a baby and the nickname had stuck. Now only Lily called her that. “Can you meet me at Denny’s for a soda?” “Baby, I don’t want to leave the kids. Why don’t you just come over here?” “Because I’m alread...

She runs a bath to the bottom of the overflow valve with water just on the edge of too hot. She lights the candles on the vanity and lowers herself into the tub. She lies absolutely still for what could be a minute or it could be a half hour. There is no sound but the occasional plop from the end of the faucet and the intermittent sighs that are her substitute for sobbing or screaming. At length, she lathers up her leg and shaves it. Slow motion strokes. This long white leg. The shaving ritua...

The Fortune Teller The fortune teller emerged from the draperies that formed her stall. She had been working county fairs and Renaissance festivals and Earth Day celebrations since she was old enough to rebel against the bra as a "male invention designed to subjugate women." Her long brown hair had only a very few silver threads and it accentuated her pleasantly horsy face. She wore Indian broomstick skirts and Birkenstocks. She draped herself in shawls and beads and bangles. A moonstone w...

Way back in January my writing group did an exercise. We were to do a free write off of Diane Levertov's Come into Animal Presence. After reading little-whip's article on zoos and the subsequent discussion, I decided to post this. Thanks to little-whip for starting a really good discussion and to Diane Levertov for the prompt. Do you feel that zoos are sacred? Or crimes against the sacred? Everyday we ignore wildlife Because it is our own and We pay to see someone else's that They so...