Sunday, January 31, 2010

The toddler ran straight into Paul's arms and as he picked the boy up, glancing around to see who the child belonged to, he saw her—the stripper he met at his bachelor party who almost convinced him not to get married.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

The old man, his eyes clouded over, told them the stories of the long-dead, weaving the town's dark history.

Friday, January 29, 2010

When the workers tore up the floorboards they discovered a child's secret cache—a pair of small white gloves, a pocket knife, a brass horn—deposited there 100 years ago by a now long dead boy.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Rye Toast Thompson never did much like working, so when his wife finally threw him out he began his journey to Florida on foot where he planned to sleep on the beach and try his luck at picking the pockets of fat cat tourists.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Like a gerbil on a wheel, the government spent its time holding inquiries into the ramifications of all the split-second decisions it had made earlier.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Teetering on the edge, it only took one rude comment from Mark's coworker to light the fuse that ended in an explosion of violence.

Monday, January 25, 2010

The town, which once did a brisk business in the tourist trade before the Interstate was built, had slowly collapsed in on itself.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

The editors, realizing that hard news just didn't sell, began to slowly add more and more puff pieces about what Hollywood stars were wearing this week and how to land your man, which seemed jarring next to items such as "the genetic make up of MRSA" or "the exploration of the meaning of Dacian architectural structures found on Trajan's column."

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Friday, January 22, 2010

The new year brought with it a slew of crimes from robbery to murder and didn't bode well for the small police force trying to hold the city's tattered fabric together.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

While suffering a bout of depression and unwilling to leave his apartment, Rory began to photograph the everyday items around him, beginning an obsession that helped his career but led to an inability to throw anything out.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

By the 10th generation of the the city's founding family, the resolute determination that had put the Van Warts on top had now descended into foppishness and rowdyism.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Fritz had yet to convince any publisher to pay him up front for the works of genius he would one day write.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

When Sasha, a 1970s-era sex symbol, turned 50 she celebrated by buying a ranch in Montana and turning her back on her old life and its parties, drugs and cavorting, instead focusing her attentions on the cattle, sheep and horses now in her charge.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

The door, one hinge long since rusted away, swung back and forth with the wind and the smell of decay and old perfume told the story of the lives once lived in the now darkened interior.

Friday, January 15, 2010

In college he kept a pet roach and wrote poetry using math equations, neither of which endeared him to the ladies.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

The bluish-black mountains, backlit by an explosion of burnt-orange, mauve and blood red, were reflected in the ice and water that flowed slowly toward the ocean.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Labeled a monster by the media and spit on by his neighbors when he passed by, Alton craved the anonymity of the city but needed one last score for bus fare out.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Lying in the dirty bed, milky light slanting in through the broken shade, I realize that I have no idea what day it is or how long I've been asleep.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Katherine lay on the dirty floor refusing the hand of the man with the runny nose trying to help her after she careened through the subway car due to her unwillingness to touch anything in the germ-filled space.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Ralph was a hugger, but far worse, in Terry's opinion, was the odd murmuring sound he made while clinging to his chosen victim coupled with the seemingly endless time it took to accomplish his goal.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Every morning he walked outside and scanned the horizon in hopes that he would see her coming down the road towards home.

Friday, January 8, 2010

She kept the sweat stained towel on the mantle next to the special collector's bourbon bottle in the shape of Elvis and counted that night in Vegas as the highlight of her life.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

The statue of the semi-nude goddess, which once sat atop the city's train station and had stirred both controversy and the hearts of many young men, now sat gathering dust in a darkened basement.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Rattled by her recent encounter with what she believed was a UFO, Janice, in a desperate attempt to prove she wasn't crazy, began incessantly calling 911 whenever she saw anything out of the ordinary.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

"Hell, I don't live close to the bone, pal, I'm subsisting on the damn bone," said Smiley, his gaunt features taut, sallow eyes boring into mine.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Many mornings began with calls from the criminal class either angry at seeing their names in print or ready to tell-all on friends who managed to get better deals from the DA.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Turner bent down low and followed the movement of the paint stroke across the canvas, awed by the masterly form used by his rival.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

In the distance a dark shape perched on the top most branch of a dying tree backlit by a steel-gray sky heavy with snow and cawed mournfully in response to its nearby brethren.
The junkie sitting across from me nodded off and began to descend towards the subway floor, her head incrementally inching downward as if in a slow motion fall.