dreamszilla

Huina Zheng's character tells the tragic story of her two cousins, one of whom was foretold to bring good fortune to the family, the other bad - but can their fortune trump their upbringing? Image generated with OpenAI After my cousin Pan was born, my uncle had his fortune told and learned that Pan would bring misfortune to the family. My parents worked in a town and didn't have time to care for me, so I was raised by my grandma, who lived with my uncle. Pan was the same age as me, born in the mid-80s in China. His family was one of the few wealthy families in the village. My uncle set up a small workshop at home, hiring several village girls to make toys. I envied Pan's material abundance - although his father disliked him, he still had various toys, snacks, and even pocket money. According to the family planning policy, people with a rural hukou , or registered residence, could have a second child if their first was a daughter; if it was a son, they were n...

Dana struggles to fit in with neurotypical norms at the best of times, but when she is caught making mean comments about a fellow writing group member, she wonders whether she is, deep down, a good person; by Rachel Mauro. Image generated with OpenAI CODE KAREN! SHE'S ON HER WAY! Dana chuckled at Audrey's text as it flashed onto her cell phone. A few dots followed, then a stock photo of a platinum blonde woman in sunglasses. Dana savored the private joke in this half-filled boutique cafe. Patrons perched on chairs, drinking fancy coffee, exchanging their own small talk. She was one of them. The cell phone clock advanced another number, and Dana sucked in a breath of anxiety. "I'm a good person, I'm a good person." Her classmate had phoned, had asked to meet. Dana was annoyed. Why couldn't Cici just ignore Dana's notes on the latest chapter of her insufferable vanity novel? Save her self-righteous spiel for their next class? "I'm...

In a Canadian dentist's office, Terra the receptionist is so fed up with Dr Sharon Waverly's overbearing rules and endless boasts about her dog, that she invents a puppy of her own; by Jerri Jerreat. Image generated with OpenAI Three months into my receptionist job, everything changed. Dr Sharon was invited by Dr Moore, ten years older, navy suit, to join her at a weekend workshop in California. To learn how to run the business end of dentistry. Sharon returned reborn . "I AM NOT AFRAID OF SUCCESS," read the new poster in the tiny staff room. She had a podcast for the car, New Rules for a Sustainable Health Business , including silence for chatty Mary, our hygienist, and a script for me. Six pages long. ( Wha? ) Sustainable is a pretty pink word, meaning nothing. New Rules stated that we were to open the vertical blinds of the clinic if our waiting room was full, close them if nearly empty. Nothing to do with sunlight or comfort. It was about st...

Robert Louis Reynolds tells of how his unassuming Latin teacher inspired him to learn and to love, in Reeve Chudd's sweetly sentimental tale. Image generated with OpenAI My name is Robert Louis Reynolds, Jr, and this is not my story, nor is it a story of my family - not my biological family, anyway. It is, instead, the story I've told my son and his sons about the profound impact our teachers can have on our lives. It is the story of Grover Joseph Lassiter, who taught Latin for nearly fifty years at Lorrington Academy, a then all-boys prep school near Agawam, just over the Connecticut River from Longmeadow in western Massachusetts. It is with equal parts of guilt, pride, and love that now, as one of the "Old Boys" (which is how the School referred to its alumni) that I write here in the hopes that future sons - now sons and daughters - of Lorrington will also know more of him as well. Lorrington Academy was founded in 1834 by Phineas G. Lorrington, an ...

Larry's ageing momma-in-law's got herself a boyfriend, and ain't nobody's gonna stand in her way; by Fred McGavran.  Image generated with OpenAI "Momma's dating Wags Fackman," Larry says right after we popped open our first beers of the day at our favorite fishing spot along the river. "He took her to the ball game last night." "What was the score?" was all I could think to say and started poking around in the weeds for something I thought the fish would like. "Don't know if he's scored yet," Larry says. Maybe I better back up. Hi. I'm Bill Bob. Larry usually does the talking for us, but he gets all screwed up talking about Momma, his mother-in-law, like thinking I'd asked if Wags had scored on her when I was asking for the score at the ball game. "The warning signs are there," Larry goes on, sounding like a father who'd caught his teenage daughter screwing her boyfriend on the...