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True Crime
-The author, Karl Ove Knausgaard Perhaps the greatest joy of reading, beyond escaping into the story itself, was discovering your self in another person’s words and worlds. Realizing that you were not...
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The Bogeyman
A virus was in the air long before this one. Canceling people, places and things anonymously and viciously. It was in our politics. Infecting belief systems. Pitting race against race. Few were...
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The Flicker Inside
If not for the Program, on some days you might not interact with anyone at all. Isolating was a common trait with alcoholics but to you it felt unique, unavoidable. Looking over your life it was...
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The Flicker Inside (2)
Tonight’s format, the standard one: how it was and what it’s like now. You sit in front, facing the group and next to the Chairperson, the woman who’d volunteered you to speak. To begin the meeting...
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The Flicker Inside (3)
Fun. Maybe in high school, where after a few beers you became giddy and loose, laughed at TV commercials, enjoyed the wobbly feeling and loss of control. Hidden in back alleys and basements, you and...
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The Flicker Inside (4)
The bar nearest your apartment you made a second home. There, you wrote ad copy and composed lousy poetry, an incoherent first novel. But mostly you drank, with others like you or, even better, a...
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The Flicker Inside (5)
Sanity? It was the tiny burning ember that never died out, no matter how much booze you poured on it. Lord knows you tried. Then came the big jobs, fancy homes, a wife and baby. And you: the...
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The Flicker Inside (6)
You look at the clock. Only ten minutes left in your share. And you still haven’t gotten to what it’s like now, the good part. Even so your lead was not absent of hope. That flicker of awareness… that...
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The Flicker Inside (7)
You’ve seen the ankle bracelets before, the hospital wristbands, the white van from the county jail. You’ve signed many court cards. You knew damn well not everyone came willingly. But you’re pitch...
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Sheldon
Sheldon raised his hand as a newcomer but you’ve seen him before. Fresh out of a treatment center, he was back from another bender. “I know where this ends,” he said, sobbing. “Dead in some motel on...
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The Storage Locker (1)
Your father once told you possessions possess you. Nothing reminds you of this more than a storage unit, the twilight zone between heirloom and the no longer relevant. Not yet junk. At least according...
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The Storage Locker (2)
Every day you brought another load, chipping away at the boxes in your soon-to-be-former home’s crawlspace, from the jammed shelves in the garage, from your wife’s endless wardrobes. Every day you...
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The Locker (3)
Another man struggles to unload an ugly dresser from the back of a brown van. Inside the vehicle, pushing the dresser, his wife. She swears at him. He yells back at her. Like a birth, you think. It’s...
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The Locker (4)
On the right side were the holidays. Green and red tubs filled with Christmas ornaments. The orange crates held Halloween. Easter didn’t have a container, so you’d put the toy rabbits in a clear...
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The Locker (5)
You carry in the latest load, one piece at a time, careful not to strain your back. Even with all the work you’ve done in the gym, lifting and hauling boxes was perilous. The only thing worse than...
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The Locker (6)
One hundred years ago, where you’re standing was more a frontier than a county. The Golden Gate Bridge hadn’t been built yet. Folks still got around on horses. Once a swamp, Chicago had already been...
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The Locker (7)
Unfolding the letters again, you remembered their secrets. You were surprised your father had shown no interest in reading them, even after you told him what they contained: that his mother (her name...
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The Magnificent Death (1)
Like many introverts, you find serenity in nature. Retreating into the woods, the hills or simply out on the lake fishing. Leaving the company of people. Entering a better place. Drugs and alcohol...
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The Magnificent Death (2)
You’re hardly the first person to feel this way. Many fortunate people receive the blessings of The Great Outdoors. So many recovering alcoholics call nature their Higher Power. Good for them. They’re...
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The Magnificent Death (3)
You are rounding a bend on a slope. The trail has become thin from lack of use, the rains having nearly washed it away. A vague impression persisted but it was enough. Beneath your feet, the...
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