Eat Teach Love
‘Mummy I’m just going to take Fergie for a w-a-l-k-i-e-s’ looking at the bundle of energy that was out 4-year-old springer spaniel and hoping that she had forgotten how to…[...]
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Winter’s Tale
Colleen Winter parted the drapes and peered into the darkness. The snowfall had reached halfway up the side of the house and was still coming down hard. “I hope this…[...]
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Unauthorized Match
Mid-day Dec 23rd Kendall swiped through the dating app, half-interested, half-bored. Holiday leave was supposed to be relaxing, but mostly it just reminded him how little he had to do…[...]
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A Relic for the Full Moon
Rose Riding knew the cathedral was at the corner somewhere. The coroner had told her she couldn’t miss it. But the rain was coming heavy, and the soaked clay of…[...]
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The Mouse That Didn’t Stir
THE MOUSE THAT DIDN'T STIR Do you know the Christmas Classic, "Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse?”…[...]
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Godfrey and the Dragon
It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. Their breath clouded the air, the ground crackled as they walked towards the cave. Sir Jonah crouched…[...]
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Christmas, once again
It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. The lights that lined the streets’ trees and lampposts shone brightly but provided no warmth from the…[...]
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A Christmas Eve Tragedy
It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. Santa wasn’t used to being out this early on Christmas Eve, but the forecast had called for…[...]
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HOW NEWY SAVED SANTA
Once upon a time, just over 2000 years ago there was an elf named Newy who lived at the North Pole. Newy was very excited about the up coming Christmas…[...]
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Paper Chains
Dangling limply across the makeshift walls of the office cubicles, a paper chain made from scrap paperwork was severed at the middle. Perhaps the gluestick that had been used to…[...]
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The Little Match-Dweller
It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. This would not have been trouble, had the flower pot not been knocked from the sill.The culprit,…[...]
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The Humble Fir Tree
It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark.The snow lay thick upon the ground, and the forest stood silent beneath it, as though wrapped in…[...]
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In a Land Far, Far Away
... “Brr! It's so terribly cold. Snow is falling, and it's almost dark. But shops are open late here in Vail so we'll get checked in at the Lodge then…[...]
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A Walk with Josie
Josie had always known exactly where she stood when it came to love, or rather, the lack of love. She stood on a busy street corner, the bursts of yellow…[...]
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Your Husband
Abby’s phone chimes.Unknown number -Hi Abigail, I am reaching out because there is something I think you should know... It’s about your husband and it’s important. Please get back to…[...]
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DECEMBER 24TH
Natalie opens a small brown oak kitchen cupboard; the bottom hinge is loose. She knows this, but ignores it. It’s filled with mugs and glasses, covered in cheesy designs and…[...]
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The Dull Man and the Sea
For the past thirty years, there had been only one way Barry began his New Year, and that was stark bollock naked in the cold, cleansing sea. It was a…[...]
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First Love
There isn’t snow anymore, not in the small town I grew up in. A small town that used to be piled so high with snow that the cows could walk…[...]
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After the beep
It was my first Christmas with my whole family in a long time. Myself, my mom, my dad and my older sister. We were all going to be together for…[...]
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The Christmas Dinner
TRIGGER WARNING: Substance use, mental health, suicidal/homicidal thoughts The holidays were always the worst. Every year, John's family got together for Christmas so they could sit at a dining table…[...]
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Christmas Gift Bags
He was walking somewhere with his little son, feeling in a bad mood. In one hand, he held his son’s small hand; in the other, a bag with some things.Sleet…[...]
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We are not in Kansas anymore
CW: Strong language “Chris, you know we gonna get killed, right?”“Not going to happen.”“And how do you figure that?”“Simple, it’s Christmas Eve, and no one is expecting us until after…[...]
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Between Time and Answers
Today was the happiest day.Her middle school team, the Wildcats, had finally won the city volleyball championship.The last game was brutal, stretching to 26–24, but they made it.Yes."Oh, we-e-e a-a-re…[...]
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12:42 Christmas Day
“This is SICK! You’re the BEST, Nana!” My nephew Ethan throws himself into his grandmother’s arms and hugs her tightly, still being careful not to let go of his brand…[...]
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…and that’s how she found out
“Well… based on the directions Santa left on Christmas morning - we’re only about 2 miles from the house he got us for the weekend. Who’s excited?”“I am!!!”“Me!”“I’m the most…[...]
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Four Out-of-Stock Stalked Stockings
I stare down the road from my window, admiring the effort of whoever decorated this park.Christmas of 1942. Festive gold lights on forests of trees that instill hope in you…[...]
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A Single Truth
The only thing worse than spending Christmas Eve in a rundown café by the railway station, was the uncomfortable silence that had settled between the remaining three occupants inside. That,…[...]
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Of Earth and Stone
Cardiff December 1991. My father drives down there through pouring rain, the windscreen wipers frantically clearing a path though the winding lanes, where we brush against the bare, grey hedgerows.…[...]
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Of Earth and Stone
Cardiff December 1991. My father drives down there through pouring rain, the windscreen wipers frantically clearing a path though the winding lanes, where we brush against the bare, grey hedgerows.…[...]
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$3 Clearance Decoration
She got me about three months ago. I was sitting pretty on a grocery store shelf when she rushed in, grabbed me and a few friends, and rushed back out.…[...]
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The Star of Bethlehem
It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was nearly dark. I was driving towards a little village called Netherton when the car slowed and came to a…[...]
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The Unnatural Tree
“No, Kiki! That is not a toy!” Mommy carried me away (again — highly disappointed) from the large tree covered in dangling, jingling, shiny toys that I am apparently not…[...]
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Spirit Present
The air shifts in the office with the scrape of Jacob Marley’s chains sliding across the wood floor behind us. The gold box thumps down with a thud, landing at…[...]
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The Side Door
My Dearest Nana,I hope this letter finds you well. Mom has informed me that the house has sold, and that Christmas was the last time we will see it.Although I…[...]
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Red Telephone Box
*There is some sexual content in this story. The annual works Christmas party was one of the best Ambrose Oickle could remember. He was particularly impressed with the mulled cider…[...]
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Wilting on the Edge of Polite Society.
Chapter 1 1879 There is a cave in a forgotten stretch of the Americas. It’s unheard of, unexplored, undocumented. Brush grows as thick as the men who seldom wander through…[...]
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FIINND A STAR
An unusually bright star caught her attention. Where was that astrology binocular that her dad had given her?Alice searched her mom’s miscellaneous pile of things to sell because they weren’t…[...]
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Figgy Pudding
You struggle to wake up on Christmas morning. You want to stay in bed, in your Christmas pajamas, covered up in several layers of blankets as if you were lasagna.…[...]
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Rebuilding What’s No Longer Mine
My entire world collapsed and I don’t know how to build it back up correctly. I’ve been in a daze. Even on the drive home from school, the town looks…[...]
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Paper Chains
Dangling limply across the makeshift walls of the office cubicles, a paper chain made from scrap paperwork was severed at the middle. Perhaps the gluestick that had been used to…[...]
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All I Want For Christmas is Fair Labor Practices
“I told you, Billy, I’m out of the game. Have been for a long time.” Gustmas Tinseltrolley took a long, slow sip of his hot cocoa as Billy “The Jingle”…[...]
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Marie Antoinette
Squat, beige and Soviet, the Apartments stood against the stale gray Minneapolis sky. Irony of the worst kind, he thought, blandly ugly and unconscious. He would take exquisitely self-aware irony…[...]
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The Counter and the Coal
Not even magical reindeer who fly are immortal, and Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen were tales of Christmas mornings that had…[...]
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April’s Fool
I just received my tax bill. Are you serious-a penalty? A late filing fee? Excuse me. For what? Everybody knows there's no April 31, and April 1 doesn't count. Why?…[...]
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The Weight of Silence
At first, she didn’t notice it.Silence wasn’t loud. It didn’t knock or announce itself. It didn’t arrive with warning signs or sudden shifts. It didn’t come crashing into her life…[...]
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Fiction meets Reality
Lester Dent—author of the famous pulp-fiction series Doc Savage—finished describing his favorite character for his next installment in the series, The Submarine Mystery, and leaned back in his chair. “Good…[...]
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He That Began A Work In Me
I don’t know what to do. I pace in my cozy, blue-walled bedroom. It’s just after 8am and I’m not ready to go anywhere. I have an itinerary that I’m…[...]
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The Potter
“I don’t really want to go anywhere. Plus, my garden needs attention and that landscaper made a mess of my tulips”, Menzi explained himself to his persistent colleague. “You’ve been…[...]
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The Last King of Rome
If he stopped remembering, the world would forget Rome. Romulus was tired of carrying it. He stared at the colossal statue of Augustus, daring those below to look upon its…[...]
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Between the pages
“What do you think, how long will it take her to acknowledge us?”Romy watched Adele chew on a pencil. She clearly hadn’t moved a bit forward in her writing. What…[...]
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An Inland Sea
emotional and financial abuseI am in my regular spot this morning, the navy blue chair-and-a-half, staring out at the big lake. From here, it looks like an inland sea, a…[...]
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The library of imagination
The wind rustles through the forest. Above my head the trees crack like old bones in a body. The crisp morning smell of the pines enters my nose. One of…[...]
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The Easter of Colors
I went out into the garden this sunny morning and saw that the yellow plum blossoms had opened, dazzling white flowers. The lawn was green and the leaves on the…[...]
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Call Your Father
The wall stared without question or expectation.There were scars hidden beneath its caked layers of paint, every one a silenced story consumed by the beige expanse. It stood despite them.…[...]
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Lost Irises
*Note: Story contains references to mental health, grief, loss, and self-harm. The azure skies descended into a blaze of bronze, copper, and Chardonnay that stained the cotton candy clouds above…[...]
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There is no Color
Withering willows and gentle breezes, leaves falling and moving seasons. Life once had a shape and an enchantment, but lately everything feels as though it's turned into ashes. The sky…[...]
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The Shadow of the Almighty
There’s nothing quite like a starlit sky, Mvelo thought to herself and smiled as she stared right into it. The navy blue to black background was perfect for the stars.…[...]
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Exceptionalities
Driving has always been my quiet reset button—the place where my thoughts finally line up instead of running into each other. The other day, I got in the car with…[...]
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SPECULATION
understanding- - Start ‘on’ the beginning “Write…..write….write about me” …. “and let people know that they’re not wasting their time”! ‘And so I will’! To my few followers, I apologise…[...]
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Greater Than Fear
GREATER THAN FEAR Today is April 31 and the northern hemisphere should have been celebrating spring and rebirth, instead the whole world was mourning the death of civilization. A whole…[...]
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The Monster’s Question
The hum started the day Specialist First Class Zoe Toussaint stopped being a man and became a weapon. It followed him everywhere now—a low, growling frequency beneath the skin of…[...]
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Craving a Mind
CW: Violence, self-harm, mental health Hurt. Sick. Pain. I can barely see. Every minute, I hunch over to sink my teeth into something. Something that makes me feel…alive. Good. The…[...]
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Echoes of the Hillside
I sat upon a hillside, all my life before me and behind me, somehow it is possible to already have lived your future, did you know that? When you grow…[...]
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Left but not Forgotten
Left but Not Forgotten Blue and soft pink streaked across the horizon on an early May morning, colors blending like brushstrokes across the sky. Birds gathered at the feeder, fluttering…[...]
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Promise keeper
Today is April 31, 2020. I’m not sure why I care but I peep at my phone screen and take note of the date. It’s a Saturday. The sun is…[...]
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A Strange Cure
Jonathan glanced out the window at the sunset developing in the West. Fog had rolled in earlier, partially blocking the view of the Golden Gate Bridge. On any normal day,…[...]
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The Lone Traveler
Beneath barren trees that loomed high in what remained of the forest, Roddy held his breath and pushed his face deep into the wet mud as he crawled toward the…[...]
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At thirteen I defeated the weight of silence in Rome and took to the streets
They attacked me with a brass knuckle, and I am only thirteen years old. I have always lived in Rome; I am a volunteer of the Youth for Peace who…[...]
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they might steal The Son Because The Priest is bunting
I hope one day they’ll raise the draft age and I can die somewhere outside Tehran, as a conscientious objector, subjected to helping the wounded of the current administration's policies,…[...]
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Thoughts I Couldn’t Silence
I don’t understand why the sky is blue.I’ve heard explanations—about light, reflection, and the vastness above us—but none of them ever quieted the question inside me. Because what I was…[...]
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Me the Fish
There was an incident at the office opposite my shop today. I don’t know whether ‘incident’ is the correct word for what happened as it has such negative connotations. And…[...]
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Among the wild reindeer moss
Trigger warnings:mental healthdeath, graphic words describing someone dying Chapter 1 As I’m sitting on my squeaky bed, the wind knocks om my wooden door; inviting me to go outside. The…[...]
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The Last Prayer
According to the Internet, belief is the acceptance that something is true or real, often without requiring complete proof or evidence. In other words, it is the feeling of certainty—trusting…[...]
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A Handshake Above
I sit paralyzed on the sofa with my phone in hand, my thumb hovering over the login button to my Instagram account. I draw in a deep breath and coax…[...]
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Chasing Hope
I wouldn’t say that I’ve been tossing and turning and that’s how I ended up feeling the need to get out of bed. It’s deeper than that. Something is pulling…[...]
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IS IT TOO LATE?
Ba-dump, Ba-dump, Ba-dump, is all I can hear, but not all I can feel. I can feel the soft pressure of the mattress pushing against my back, and gentle caress…[...]
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Vessels: Through Smoke and Shadow
“Riders are on their way, we have to move. I sense them coming near us.” Amaya stated in a stern voice, pouring her water onto the campfire and extinguishing it.…[...]
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What it Really Means to be Human
What it really means to be humanUnclean. That word has plagued my life for the past 12 years. It’s become more who I am than simply what I am. Unclean……[...]
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The Weight of a Name
Thump. Thump. Thump. Somewhere between twelve and thirty, Daryl Whitecloud figured out that your body doesn’t care about your uncertainty. Your mind can turn a question over and over in…[...]
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The Sound of Her Heartbeat
‘You’ve got this!’ Rachel heard the voice cry out, encouraging her, pushing her on. Rachel worked hard. The novel was almost there. Eighty thousand words, that’s all she needed. Yet…[...]
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Broken Promise
Huddled in the cave, behind the boulder, as small as he could make himself, Carson could hear footsteps approaching. Closer. Closer. Closer. Carson caught a whiff of the stench that…[...]
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I Was Here
thump… thump… thump…That is where I begin.My heartbeat.Small. Fast. Certain.I didn’t know the words yet, but if I did, I think it would be called living.It is the first thing…[...]
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A Stranger in the Garden
Joseph Merrick awoke in the light of Easter dawn, already excited. All through the dark days of Lent and Holy Week, he’d been looking forward to this day. While he…[...]
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First & Last
First The water won't sleep. It lifts and lowers the boats all night long. It slaps the sides of each. I do not understand the sound. It is like a…[...]
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A Good Day
1.As I sat at the bar, I slowly realized I had no idea how I got there or what I had done the rest of the morning, leading up to…[...]
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Bucket of Joy.
Rhiannon had been totally blindsided by her unexpected reduncancy. She was always regarded as one of the rising stars in her field of expertise. Until that afternoon, she had an…[...]
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What Happened To Father?
Chris Flynn2,135 words What Happened To Fatherby Chris Flynn It seems like it’s been forever in the desert. My mind and my heart are in two totallydifferent places. My emotions…[...]
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The Sinner’s Angel
It now seems unfortunately ironic to say her house was full of life.The little stone walk that led from the street to the porch meandered through the garden. The first…[...]
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The Love of Time
As a woman of twenty-three, I find life is too full and the days are too short for family condolences or family memories. This is a life of lust. A…[...]
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From a false truth to a lie the path is blurred: in search of the truth for the manager of a property
This is a story that draws on an authentic experience.It is a story that hides a fraud and a false belief but let us start from the beginning. The story…[...]
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Paulo Perez
For Paulo these were no new feelings, the lump in his throat from the shortness of breath, the electric like tension he feels all over his skin, and rise in…[...]
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