His face relaxed, but it took him several moments to answer. “Naw, it’s okay. I don’t know why I was saving it, but now you’ve seen it you may as well use it.” “Oh, thank you, Ben.” Sarah bent and kissed his cheek and, with a light step, she went into the kitchen. “The saddle cream is on the window sill,” he called after her. “I found it on the floor. Guess Flicka knocked it down.” Sarah smiled. She would need it now more than ever. She intended to take very good care of that saddle, Ben’s first gift to her.
Guard Ethereal spruce stands guarding our home secrets without her armour having lonely eyes, an assuming smile between arthritic limbs as if to remind me of duties that one performs without being asked, without being paid, yet nature has a way of sharing her wisdom to the open-minded leaving the blind to stay blind until his or her depth also comes to conceive of greatness its meaning by one’s own eyes, by one’s heart
Pigsty Things have changed; these days, they don’t kill. They only point at you with the finger; it is enough. Then, they make a circle that always becomes smaller; they slowly get closer you retreat against the wall, until in desperation you, alone, open a hole to hide in it. When the circle was cleared, another respectable, lovable man stood in its place.
Pink The arm water in the filled tub turned slowly pink. Blood flowed in the water, creating a warm sensation around my body. I wasn’t cold; I didn’t feel anything at all. I listened to the soft music coming from the room, and as I was dipped in the tub I saw the water changing colour, turning into deep red. And I felt sleepy, and I let myself be carried away by the soft music and the warmth of the water and I felt more and more sleepy. I closed my eyes. Listened to the music and to my heartbeats being slower and weaker from before as my strength left me and I was wrapped by the warm water like being in a pink cloud. And I felt, lighter and lighter… As if I had no weight, no body, nor soul. And I was sleepy. Finally I wanted to sleep, to sleep. “Leave me alone,” I said to those who tried to wake me up, “leave me alone” And I was lost in the pink cloud in the warmth of the uterus that had nourished me and then suddenly had thrown me out there into the cold and gray world. I wasn’t told about this. Nine months it had allowed me to believe that it was to be the same all along a pink bubble gum with the taste of strawberry and warmth that wrapped me and protected me. But I was fooled! Now I was again in the same spot, wrapped in my old warmth. And the foolish people who said, “It’s too late for her, unfortunately…” What “too late?” For me, everything was just starting.
Manolis Aligizakis 