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The Ministry Man (excerpt)
Of course, I was just holding out for adventure. I had a filmic view of the world, taken from watching movies on television with my mother. I tended to leave the room before the endings—I dreaded the sudden shift from film-world to reality. So I learned to love the snatches more than the whole. To…
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Darkened
He turned out the light, lit a cigarette, and watched the street. The building opposite darkened. He developed his idea that behind one of its windows sat another, hidden observer. Usually, this would have thrilled him. He didn’t like to close his curtains, preferring the implied invitation of a nighttime room, lit or unlit, revealed…
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Gin rickey
A tall glass, clean and sparkling, smelling of linen from a warm tea towel, is rinsed in cold water, then placed, wet, onto a rack in the freezer. A lime is quartered on a wooden chopping board. Limey fingers are licked. The freezer is opened again. The glass is surrounded by ice-smoke, which billows and…
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Junction – part I
‘What do you think I’m looking for, Steven?’ she said. She turned to face him. ‘Do you think I’ll find it spending my nights at Junk? Don’t worry, I’m just thinking out loud. Unless you have any answers.’ He said nothing. ‘Let’s go and get some air,’ she said, and in a few minutes she…
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The morning after
When he woke it was light outside. He looked at the time on his phone. It was early. The house was quiet. His curtains were open, and the lamp was on. He stared at the ceiling. There was a network of small cracks radiating from the ceiling rose. He closed his eyes. He didn’t want…
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Barry Lee Thompson 