We are capable of rich and life-altering intimacy--however fleeting--with the oldest of comrades, and the newest of acquaintances. We can step away from the empty pleasantries that distance us from others and that "mask" the ill-mannered insecurities that cause us to neurotically and compulsively apologize for our chronic truancy and bad behavior. We can acknowledge that our own self-loathing, though deeply personal, is not an exclusive phenomenon, but a universal and shared

You can exhale and close the heavy door behind you, wrestle it shut if you have to. You can lean against the inside of it and even click the lock, it’s up to you. You can choose not to be so damned accommodating of the hands and voices that pull at you and call your name. You can let them solve their own problems. After all, you’re in here, behind the safe door, and you can make up any rule you want. You can decide that you’ve done your best. For today. For the week. For the

When Anna had lived with Walter for about a month, he decided to surprise her after school one day. He watched her board the bus and then he got busy moving her things into the master bedroom. He transferred his things into the spare room down the hall. It was right to give her this space, he thought, with the enormous windows and the private bath. He wanted her to feel at home here. He wanted her to feel special. And he didn't mind the small room anyway. It was easier to thi

It occurred to Walter, that if he would simply write his house number on the side of his trash can -- along with a few choice expletives -- it would render the can far less desirable to poachers. And it was this thinking that had him standing outside in his bathrobe at 2 AM with a can of orange Liquitex. "Five. Two. Seven. Maple." He counted aloud as he sprayed the uneven coats on the fresh new surface, the "seven" looking 10 times angrier than the "five." He had not guessed