Sarah A

“The Red Cedar” by Sarah A

Submitted to Contest #90

Melinda – 2004 – Norfolk, Virginia              “How are you feeling today, Betsy?”  I ask my patient, who has just been admitted, but who I’ve known for years.                 “Okay.  Just in for a tune up.”  She chuckles, as she tells me she’s here for what many Cystic Fibrosis patients have to regularly come in for.  A few weeks of strong IV antibiotics t...

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“My Sad Happy Place” by Sarah A

Submitted to Contest #86

March 2021            The first time I saw a hydrangea, I started to rip it out of the ground, assuming it was like the weeds around it that I had just been instructed to pull out.  “No, not that one”, my boss, Griffin, corrected, with a soft smile on his face.  “That’s a hydrangea.”“Oh”, I responded awkwardly, quickly shoving the woody, flowerless thing back into the soil.              Now, si...

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“In the City” by Sarah A

Submitted to Contest #85

            While I’m talking to my dad on my phone outside the train station, I spot an American penny left unattended on the ground.  I don’t pick it up, just stare at it while I listen to his comforting voice on the other end of the line.  If Tyler was here, he’d pick it up, call it even luckier because it found its way here, from the other side of the world.  Maybe he’d even call it a sign that it’s time to come home.      &...

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“Delaware” by Sarah A

Submitted to Contest #79

            In the waiting room, I fill out the forms painstakingly, the way I’ve gotten used to doing over the years.  I take them up to the desk, where the secretary asks me for my insurance card.               I pat my pockets, and pull out my wallet.  I flip through the cards, “Damn”, I finally say.  “I must have left it at home.  Can I pay out of pocket or something?”&n...

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“At Spoken Word” by Sarah A

Submitted to Contest #78

Teddy walks up on stage nervously. He’s wearing khaki shorts and a polo, his prosthetics showing, but he’s proud of them now. He doesn’t care what conclusions people jump to. He wouldn’t read us his poem before he left the house. All he said was that he was going to be honest and we shouldn’t come if we weren’t going to be okay with that.   Of course, we told him we’d support him no matter what.   Sometimes, I look at him and see the scared little boy in the hospital all those years ago, when Tyler just wouldn’...

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“Our First Halloween” by Sarah A

Submitted to Contest #65

I spend fifteen minutes standing by the headstone before I leave. It’s been nearly three months, but three months doesn’t bring me closure, doesn’t bring me closer to understanding, doesn’t solve my pain and frustration.   I can’t remember why I decided this morning I wanted to come here. Maybe it was all the Halloween decorations around town, all the fake skeletons, fake “RIP”? Maybe I just needed something a little bit more tangible to tackle my own grief.  Damian sits on the headstone next to me, his steel t...

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“Heartbeats” by Sarah A

“Condoms, really?” I force a laugh when they come pouring out of my locker. Kids around me snicker and I keep my cool. Even though I want to explode with rage, that’s exactly what they want me to do.   The football team roars with laughter as I kneel and start picking them up and placing them the only place I can think of - my backpack.   There are a few kids who feel bad for me and kneel on the floor beside my locker to help me. They’re smart enough to realize that the condoms are probably not the best joke...

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“The Ghost Between Us” by Sarah A

Submitted to Contest #50

He’s talking a mile a minute when he says, “I know you said no but I just wanted to explain why I proposed—.” Tyler hesitates and I cut him off before he can finish. “It’s okay, I understand.” My voice is sweet, gentle, and I’m trying to calm him down, but I know the only thing that will truly do that is giving him an answer that I’m unwilling to give. “So, can we talk about it?” He should win an award for persistence. He never gives up. “I’m sorry.” I spit out the words before I can change my mind.&nb...

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“I'm Waiting” by Sarah A

Submitted to Contest #49

"Come on.” I say, strolling into the living room fifteen minutes after we had agreed to leave, “Let’s go. Or we’ll never get there.” The room is thick with heat, and even though I sat there all day working on my laptop, I can’t wait to get the heck out of here.   Lately I’ve been feeling stifled. Work from home is the dream and in many ways, I love everything about it. But, let’s just say that I underestimated the benefits of office air conditioning.   “Okay. Give me a minute to change.” She s...

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“In the Waiting Room” by Sarah A

Submitted to Contest #49

When you see the guy who beat the shit out of you for the first time after it happened, what do you do? Do you dial 911? Do you march up to him and smash him across the face? Payback for what he’s done to you? Do you turn back into the traumatized mess you were the day it happened? Or do you stare at your magazine in an oncologist’s waiting room, and pretend you’re not acutely aware of his presence? Do you cover your face with the magazine so he won’t see you, and hope against all hope that he won’t still recogn...

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“Clorox Wipes” by Sarah A

Submitted to Contest #48

“Where were you all day?” My mother asks when she comes into my room that evening. She asks with an air of a mother that kind of wonders, and she’s not sure if she really wants to know the answer, but she’s also curious. She trusts me to live my own life, but at the same time, we’re in the midst of a global pandemic, and even though life right now is really more about millennials trying to shut our baby boomer parents in the house, instead of vice versa, I was the one gone all day, not her.   I shrug. “I just went ...

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