Category Archives: Kim Hutchinson

The video looks old and grainy, but the voice reaches out: Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded. The triangle is one of the basic shapes of the universe, noted for its … Continue reading →

Welcome back. You still awake after that last tune? Well, then, you must have a lot on your mind. There’s a saying around here: If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes. It will change. Let’s hope so. This … Continue reading →

A young contessa stumbled across a bridge to a land of wonder, where the colors of the land and sky were deeper, the water sparkled brighter, and the horizon went on forever. It was a land of all sky. A … Continue reading →

Spot the Chihuahua was born blind. The kids called him Spot because they thought it was funny and, well, he wouldn’t know any better, would he? You would think that a tiny blind dog would be on the timid side, … Continue reading →

“Boy, run home.” A child looks up to see a majestic warrior, a Shawnee chief with hazel eyes. “The soldiers are coming. There is war and you might get hurt.” Weary of weariness, devoid of dreams, the buckskinned hope of … Continue reading →

Humpty Dumpty sat on a fault. Humpty Dumpty had a great shock. All of the king’s men Now have to take stock. “I don’t know what you mean by ‘safe,’ ” Alice said. Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. “Of course you … Continue reading →

            Win the new iPad 2!             Plz RT this:             The NEW Fried Rice…             #WriterWednesday             #FanPageFriday             #SaturdayStarShine it’s #howwerollnow #shoutitout #sayit2theworld #wearelistening             Winning..! Choose your Vice… #winning #chooseyourvice crowowd crowdead crowd-ed croud sowndz R beeootiful             Down with Q!             Congrats to @…             Thx … Continue reading →

That blond stepping on the elevator, she just smiled at the other guy. She won’t smile at me, won’t even look my way. All she sees is black. Keep it cool, under control. Don’t let her see your insides. If … Continue reading →

A half-truth is a whole lie.                                                    Yiddish proverb   Just Another Word For So, I … Continue reading →

The bankers and businessmen appeared on television wearing thousand-dollar haircuts and sackcloth. Their faces were grim. The money’s gone, some proclaimed. It won’t be coming back said others. The money’s gone! cried the people. What shall we do? Citizens began … Continue reading →

In the beginning, there is a word, a word of power. The first appearance is by inspiration; it arises like magic in the mind of one with an open heart. The inspired one, the keeper of the word, passes it … Continue reading →

If Wishes Were Horses The train was late; it gave her more time to fight the tears. Towns passed the window. People. Families. Homes. She’d left hers behind again. Tomorrow, she would be a professional, forcing her smile to rise … Continue reading →

The thing about a border town is, it’s all about trade. Markets and positions. Proximity. Rules. How to comply. How to avoid them. If you grow up here, you get that. You also get that the top trade tends to … Continue reading →

Fat, lazy snowflakes drifted down, dusting the street like icing sugar. One store window projected a warm glow onto the grey street. Over the window, the sign read Joffrey Russ, Fur Designer. Another read Retirement Sale. It was a small … Continue reading →

For 22 years, they rode the same bus. He was the man with the winter Fedora, the one who always dressed neatly, wore polished shoes and spoke with a nineteenth-century flourish. She was a bookkeeper; she appreciated tidiness. She also … Continue reading →

A woman stands on a rocky outcrop at the edge of the lake of legends. She stares at the distant island, a black hole of tales resting on a bed of crystals, a place from which stories did not escape. … Continue reading →

Once upon a time, a traveler came upon a quiet cul-de-sac. His name was Joe, and he was an average working man. He had a pronounced scar on his cheek, a mark of experience. Joe liked this pretty place, and … Continue reading →

“If a tree falls…” He didn’t want to have this conversation, not tonight, not for the hundredth time since this morning. He stamped his freezing feet against the sidewalk. The muzak played Hark, the Herald Angles Sing. For some reason, … Continue reading →

I wish I had told you this story. When you died, there were so many things left unsaid. There is much that feels like someone else’s life. So much time was wasted waiting for my life to begin. Waking hours … Continue reading →

The contrast can be summed up in a sip. Country coffee never changes, long burnt and bitter, consumed with tense smiles and ritual conversations, customs of conformity and stagnation. Urban coffee, consumed in conversation and not, flavored and not, sweet … Continue reading →

One sunny morning, a big-bellied ball of yellow fur surveyed a yard full of prospective adopters and ran straight to one. She’d been chosen. The breeder called the craziest pup in the litter Climbing Ivy. He tried to pull a … Continue reading →

She gets all the press, the young one, the second wife. Perhaps the poor girl deserves it, in a way. He ruined her life. Oh Adam, taste this. She could just imagine. Not that she missed him, or the garden. … Continue reading →

The canon thundered, too close, sending a shock through the crowd. The children began to sing an anthem. Tears formed behind her sunglasses. It was the first time she had attended. She’d grown up with soldiers, and learned the difference … Continue reading →

A week ago he’d learned over lunch that he was losing his favorite project. It was the place he had a chance to shine. He loved touring the country with two crates of laptops in tow, teaching the intellectually less … Continue reading →

She stood by the rescued greyhounds at the outdoor market, petting the dogs and talking to the lovely young woman with the beaming smile standing next to her. “You have to meet someone.” The young woman reached into her jacket. … Continue reading →

. That morning when she logged on, an old illusion soared across her social networking stream, cutting her like shrapnel. Softly backlit, the photo showed her as part of a matched pair playfully leaning on one another, look as much … Continue reading →

“The grass enjoyed it when the wind blew.” Agnes Martins shespentherlifepaintinglinesanddotspointseverydayalonglineoflinesoncanvasandpaperthe  samehand-madelinesoverandoverwithdifferenttonesandtexturesandshadingsmomentsof perfectinsightrepresentedbyimperfectionpaintingpaintingaclearsimplelanguagethebinary codeofwhatsomepeoplecallgodfindingzenintheoldjokeaboutthechickencrossingtheroad seeingthemiracleofexistenceinthemomentswerecognizebeautywhenweglimpseperfection followingthewayoftheartistsurrenderpaintingwithherbacktotheworldtohearthemusicof prairiewindsthemorsecodeoftheuniverseandseekinganuntroubledmindsurethatnosufferingis unnecessarythatitisneededforfreedomfromsufferingacceptingherburdenthroughanonymity andre-discoveryinoldageunderstandingthatwedon’tknowhowtobehumblebuttryinganyway tryingtorememberwhoshewasbeforeshewasbornremindingusagainandagainofthepointthat nopointexistsintheworldthatthefutureisablankpageandinherlonglineofdayseachthesamewith differentshadingsandtexturessheshowedusthatbeautyisanawarenessinthemindthattrust absolutetrustisapreciousgiftandthatwhenyoureyesareopenyouseebeautyinanything . Return to This Week’s Flash

In the fifteenth year, she developed a stammer. It happened all at once, at the front door. One of his high school buddies, the one with no chin, tried to kiss her. But it wasn’t just a kiss. Chinless had … Continue reading →

No one called the night you died. I dreamt of you. You were but a shadow, yet the whisper of you gave me peace. You called on Polymynhia. She sat in a paneled room, near the grate. She plucked at … Continue reading →

He’d kept the parking space open. She used it most often, whenever she and her husband, an old drinking buddy, came to visit. When he saw her that day, he knew. Her hipbones were fins on a ’58 Caddy, her … Continue reading →

She arrives early. The movers are there. The truck is already packed. He sits on the porch, smoking and talking with the movers. Where are you going? he asks them. They only know the city. She walks through the house … Continue reading →

“Hello?” he inquired politely. A dial tone was the only response. It had been so long since the telephone had rung, he’d forgotten the sound. Undaunted, he picked it up every few minutes and asked: “Hello?” One of these days … Continue reading →

Yesterday, she dazzled. Professionally brilliant, she sprinkled starlight and success over the meeting. Twice they cut her contract. This morning, she woke to the banshee: “Individuals must get up early and put in a full day’s work in this economy!” … Continue reading →

The sun is bouncin’ off the pavement already. Not much traffic on the street, but the stream of customers is steady. Been here for hours, days, can’t remember. Can’t remember much. Not sure why I’d want to. Fat Iggy’s here … Continue reading →

In the green morning I wanted to be a heart. A heart. Ditty of First Desire Federico Garcia Lorca The clock glares, red-faced and angry. I roll away in search of a new position, trying to feel my way to … Continue reading →

She was a forward-motion girl. She never bothered to learn to walk as a baby. Instead, she stood up and ran. Her thoughts began with “I can’t wait/stand/continue…” at least ten times a day. The rest of the time, she mentally hurried others … Continue reading →

One dinner party, two couples, three bottles of wine. A moonbeam shone on the balcony. They felt a slight shifting under their chairs and heard a quiet scraping sound, then the apartment slid out from the building and lifted away. … Continue reading →

The day she moved in, he developed a rash in an unmentionable place. The sex stopped then and there. Later, he started breaking out in hives when she kissed him. That led to a lot of awkward flinching. Soon, kissing … Continue reading →