When at last Amy opened the door, its hinges let out a long familiar groan, the way old houses wail and sigh as they're pushed or moved, though Bill never thought lubricating the hinges necessary as "they're cheaper than Brinks security."

She stood in the doorway for a long five minutes, waiting for Bill to finally say something - good-bye or sorry - just as she'd always waited for Bill to say he thought her hummingbird obsession cute or that she was…

The only complaint I ever heard from the owner of Seabrook's Stop & Save regarded the non-stop singing of the thirty or more sparrows who'd taken up residence behind his store sign.

Mr. Tin bought the one-storey charred building in the early 80's after it was gutted by fire. He made repairs and painted, leaving the stubborn golden dandelions and bright lantana which flanked the modest structure like colorful whiskers on an old man.

For years the business…

"I'm being eaten by a Boa constrictor..." she sang to the second graders at Holy Name, a beautiful woman without makeup or fuss despite stark caterpillar eyebrows.

Sister Christopher was a young nun who taught music at Holy Name Catholic school, a favorite teacher my family managed to recruit as a true friend and frequent visitor. Her sweet voice and classic guitar added harmony to our living room, softened the gruff pangs of my father's red, white and blue instrument…

Clarence, middle-aged but having the libido of a boy band, pined for a dark-haired beauty named Pricilla, a young secretary who shared his small office at Parks Insurance; he could see right under her desk, her shapely legs providing an exquisite view of the dense shadowy heart between them, clearly visible in the frequent absence of panties.

He envied her lipstick, longed to be the waxy probe gliding over rose petal pillows, then burrowing inside for an erotic swim in warm…

Anthony was handsome, lean and dark-haired, and I would have normally felt shy putting my arms around a man like this except he desperately needed help lifting himself.

I wedged the 14x17 x-ray cassette behind his back as I held him close, avoiding the tangles of wires and tubes that kept him alive, feeling his fever burn against me as Donna drove the lumbering portable machine closer to the ICU bed for a picture of his drowning lungs.

As she turned the dials on…

Kids both claim and save your life.

I'd have probably been voted least likely to have kids, not because I was some kind of selfish monster, but because I was a hippy, a free spirit, and kids can feel like lead weights that throw snot-slinging fits in the grocery store, strangle precious sleep and creative highs, then vomit on your new $200 outfit.

Feeling stifled in any way is terrifying to me - I can't breathe, and the world becomes a claustrophobic…

Arriving customers are seductively greeted by a matriarch with the pseudonym, Lila, then matched with younger females who take them to the "back" and offer a drink. Lila's girls guarantee satisfaction for paying customers, often asking during a session with a coy smile, "Does this feel good?" Warm baths precede warm hands, lotion lathered, slicked and rubbed over wanting nerve frontiers. The room throbs with ancient secrets of feminine mystique. The working girls are a…

There are only two images of Nancy in memory. The first is of her briskly walking toward me down a long hallway at Memorial Hospital, dressed in crisp blue scrubs and nodding a silent "hello" as the distance between us closed.

She often took cigarette breaks with Dr. Kowalksy and Georgia in a shady enclosure furnished with picnic tables, and what I gathered from stories carried back and dished to other hospital staff, Nancy was always the life and center of any…

Five girls staggered away from Reliant Stadium, some with faces buried in their hands.

"Oh my GOD! Oh my God!" said the most beautiful of the girls, 14 or so dressed in denim shorts and a coral sleeveless top in 48 degree weather. She stumbled away from the group toward a curb and fell in a sitting position, her mascara-stained face twisted in anguish.

Another girl in the group smiled broadly, dialed a number on her cell phone as she asked the others, "Can you…

Lisa Harvey was the most popular girl in sixth grade and the first to grow a perky set of chest spheres, the pair showcased with exaggerated yawns during Mr. Yates English class by a dramatic folding of arms behind her head, back arched, big brown eyes cast toward her lovely lot.

I had dull brown hair cut like a boy's, a look achieved by using an actual cereal bowl; a spray of reddish-brown freckles dotted my cheeks and in the center of my smile was a huge black gap. My…

Dear Former Friends,

Lately I've noticed that you no longer talk to me or comment on my blogs, as if you're "too good" for me now that you've been published in the new 6S book and I can't live without you. This hurts I want to kill myself, but I understand you're all busy now spending time and your new wads of money on undeserving others with your book tour engagements, photo shoots, and movie deals…

No longer able to hear the rush of waves or our better judgement, we sauntered along Galveston's famous East Beach to Don't Look Back, seducing beers from frisky males who were always in hope of a "goods for services" trade.

Slathered in the scent of coconuts and covering only what we had to in tiny cloth swatches, we paraded our young bodies along sandy catwalks past boys and cars parked in as many as three endless rows facing the ocean. With doors open and windows…

As human hands "set time" one hour ahead, Father Time balked, fed up with human ego.

All of a sudden, the analog and digital time-keepers refused to comply with the manipulation of knobs and dials, buttons and stems. "It's over", the Escapement Assembly stated to the mind of Time, to the Father of what humans built their days from, their hours and weeks and months and years - their excuses and regrets. All they had forevermore was... now.

Of course the…

The sound of Ernest Cleet breaking wind was much like the despairing moan of "Chewy" from Star Wars.

He expelled this regular morning burst before approaching his wife from behind, pressing himself against her small form as she prepared to make their afternoon tea, "Come with me to the bedroom dear, I've got a relic to show you."

"Is that so?" Ethel asked playfully, knowing full well he was incapable of waking the famed relic,"Do you want your…

As I carried my big ladder into her foyer, Jolly proudly pointed to a three-foot brass statue of her favorite Hindu god, Genesha. The statue had been removed from her "god room" so the maid could clean, the same maid who needed the ladder to reach the high ceiling fans in the house.

I live in a culdesac, which is a pretty accurate representation of my entire neighborhood: only two in eight families are Caucasion or Christian.

When I walk my dog, Chester, I'm…

My 4 year old daughter is sitting among other children at a Sugar Land Catholic school, the smallest child in the room. They're waiting to be screened for " school readiness", something not done in the public schools, a tool used to weed out problem or immature children. The process requires they're able to separate easily from parents, hop on one foot, write their names, count to thirty, etc.

I notice other children have taken toys right out of my child's hands which she…

I was basking in perfect serenity as my Jeep carried me east on Nasa Rd. I, past the small boats on the smooth glass of Clear Lake. I'd just massaged my 4:15pm client, Nathan, and we'd talked about quantum physics while he was still face up, him explaining chaos theory while I kneaded his fleshy upper arms now soft with age.

Most clients fell asleep in the last half hour of our time together, and I'd drift into the quiet space alone as I worked with my hands, listening to…

It's the first book we pick up and read, and all the ones that follow. It's our favorite color, foods, clothes, beverages, people, movies, cars, and sports/hobbies.

It's what we do when no one is watching, or when everyone is watching; it's what we're best at in school, how we talk, stress, blend, kiss, laugh, drive, walk, love, eat, forgive, and what we see in the mirror on our best/worst days.

It's the career we choose, the person we marry, the children we…

Hey guys. I reworked a piece originally written here at 6S and posted it as a challenge at Pen 10. It was recently published if you want to take a look. It's not my usual thing (white lace, whereas this is ...hell, I don't know), but hey, sometimes it just feels good to be naughty. Really naughty.

http://pen10scribes.blogspot.com

For five years I spoke the same words, gave the same speech, twenty-five or more times a day at a small non-profit breast imaging center: "Undress from the waist up, cover with a gown, and have a seat on the stool please."

Inevitably patients would walk out without a gown, or not emerge at all having forgotten about the "stool" part of the instructions. Some patients would emerge totally nude or pop their heads out of the dressing room several times to get a re-run of my…