The Small Things That Scare Us
Ticks are tiny mini-monsters, basically the equivalent of the radioactive spider that bit Peter Parker except they carry Lyme disease and not superpowers.
Lessons in Monstrosity
I know it’s illegal, but do I care enough to prevent it when I see it? Does he want us to stop him? Will saying something be more trouble than it’s worth?
Revise, Revise
When an idea is still inside me and dormant, I can control it completely. Once I let the beast go, it seems much tamer and so much more trivial.
Scar Stories
Lauren tries to climb over one-and-a-half-foot slab of concrete to higher ground. Even more minimalist version: Lauren attempts to climb one stair.
The One That Made It
I spent a lot of second grade working on damp purple worksheets and trying not to think about my feet. Because once I started thinking about my feet, I couldn’t stop.
(hum(an)imal)
Many questions about the similarities and differences between humans and other animals boil down to questions of religious significance.
Apes, Beasts, and Beluga Whales
We all knew what we were. Sarah and I preferred to be beluga whales. It sounded more elegant than the other options. My brother was an ape, clearly.
Gremlin
The speaker said, “I have found that my elite athletes typically have a gremlin—something from their past that creates work ethic and an axe to grind.”
Fantastic Beasts
24-year-olds should not spend such a large chunk of a Saturday holed up around a table, eating nachos and rolling for critical hits.
For He Spoke
My father-in-law likes to say he would pay to hear James Earl Jones read the phonebook. Who would pay to hear me read anything?
