A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed o...
In the Carolinas they say "hill people" are different from "flatlands people," and as a native Kentuckian with more mountain than flatlands blood, I'm inclined to agree. This was one of the theories I'd been nursing all the way from San Francisco. Un...
Col. Robert Stout: Could you get a message down to XXXth Corps on that dingus? Radio Operator: Yes, sir. Uh, we just got word from the 82nd up ahead. They captured the Graves bridge completely intact! Col. Robert Stout: Aw, that's terrrific. Except X...
Eros mumbled something. "I'm sorry?" said Aphrodite. "Whatwouldjesusdo." "What would Jesus do?" said Aphrodite. "Let me tell you something. Jesus was a very good boy. He would do exactly what his mother told him to." "But-" "Jesus was supposed to be ...
I was also one of those people who hadn’t caught up with the latest social networking site. Maura belonged to most of them. She passed most evenings befriending men who had tried to date-rape her in high school, but I was still stuck in the last vi...
At dusk in the Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica, Melissa Overton barely heard the constant sound of crickets chirping all around them. Prowling through the dense, tropical rainforest as a jaguar, she listened for the human voices that would clue...
The ceremony was fast so we wouldn't be caught. When it was over, the men all whispered 'Mazel tov' and climbed back onto their shelves. I went up to the boy and pressed the wooden horse into his hands, the only present I could give him. The boy look...
My cousin Rebecca teaches comparative English literature at Midlands College. She’s always seeing Austen in the world around her.” “Exactly.” Theresa beamed. “Life is easier to understand when you think of it in terms of Pride and Prejudice...
Oh, God, Francesca,Now there’s a good one.Why?Why? Why?” He gave each one a different tenor, as if he were testing out the word, asking it to different people. “Why?” he asked again, this time with increased volume as he turned around to face...
When did you first feel like a grown woman and not a girl?” We wrote down our answers and shared them, first in pairs, then in larger groups. The group of women was racially and economically diverse, but the answers had a very similar theme. Almost...
How can I ever make you understand Cassie and me? I would have to take you there, walk you down every path of our secret shared geography. The truism says it’s against all odds for a straight man and woman to be real friends, platonic friends; we r...
Clark: No, Eddie. It was my fault. I lost my temper when I got my bonus and I guess I said a few thing I shouldn't have. Mr. Frank Shirley: Bonus? How did you get a bonus? I cut out bonuses this year. Clark: Yeah. Thanks for telling us. I was expecti...
Dain: Good morning. How are we all? I have a wee proposition, if you don't mind giving me a few moments of your time. Would you consider... JUST SODDING OFF! All ye, right now! Bard: Stand Fast! Gandalf: Come now, Lord Dain. Dain: Gandalf the Grey. T...
TV Repairman: Hey - who did Muffin take to the Masquerade Ball when her date came down with the measles? David: Her father. TV Repairman: That's right! And how'd she dress him? David: As Prince Charming. TV Repairman: Nice! Remember the one where Bud...
Terry Pugh: [after failing to find his cousin in a phonebook] Must've moved. Probably couldn't have heard him anyway, this goddamn ear's still bleedin'. Don't you ever try that shit again. Robert 'Butch' Haynes: [sternly] What? Terry Pugh: [puzzled] ...
Hey, Pedro, could you get your shopping cart out of my faculty parking space? Yes, I know you live on the street. But you know how hard it is to find a parking spot on the Upper West Side. After all, you used to be one of my best students! So how's t...
THE ONE WHO STAYED You should have heard the old men cry, You should have heard the biddies When that sad stranger raised his flute And piped away the kiddies. Katy, Tommy, Meg and Bob Followed, skipped gaily, Red-haired Ruth, my brother Rob, And lit...
John says I musn't lose my strength, and has me take cod liver oil and lots of tonics and things, to say nothing of ale and wine and rare meat. Dear John! He loves me very dearly, and hates to have me sick. I tried to have a real earnest reasonable t...
Draco Malfoy: Look Who is Back Harry Potter: Well, Well, Well, if it isn't Draco Malfart Draco Malfoy: Whatever You Say, HAIRY Potter, Your the hairiest Potter i've ever seen Hermione Granger: Hey, Atleast He Doesn't Still like Dora as a Teenager Ron...
Will Turner: She goes free. [points pistol at Barbossa] Barbossa: What's in your head, boy? Will Turner: She goes free! Barbossa: You've only got one shot, and we can't die. Jack Sparrow: [whispered to Will] Don't do anything stupid. Will Turner: You...
Must I accept the barren Gift? -learn death, and lose my Mastery? Then let them know whose blood and breath will take the Gift and set them free: whose is the voice and whose the mind to set at naught the well-sung Game- when finned Finality arrives ...
