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Greta Garbo's Hair Was Made in Egypt
 
Mr. Clancy nods and smiles. "I take you on your word 'cause I like your Ma a lot, and plus I think you've some clever quirks, really. Odd, but you're an honest kid. Am I wrong? Honest?"  
 
Tim Keane

 

The Ride Home
 
Eyes fixed on the table, Meng Choon ate his dinner, his wife by his side. The sound of a clanking spoon interspersed with occasional burps. The walls, bare save a cheap calendar with a picture of a Chinese maiden and perforated date pages, seemed to watch over them.  
 
Siew Siang Tay

 

Control of Europe
 
Bill's wife is an ice-cool blonde, square of shoulder and fringe: not a head of state to be trifled with. With her I make a pact not to hinder French interests in the Mediterranean, providing she assist me by needling our black-helmeted Kaiser.  
 
Bill Collopy

 

Fat and the Art of Fishing
 
My nephew Jack is a solid little guy but well proportioned. When I take him fishing though, I don't care about what he's going to look like, I care about whether he's going to be a fisherman, like me.  
 
Chris Bleach

 

Gyalwa
 
Contrary to popular beliefs, dreamers do live in the real world, they do have goals, and they do achieve. But if you achieve anything less than your dream, it means nothing. If you're a dreamer, you will understand, You can't go lower than the plan you started with.  
 
Roger Duncan

 

Virgin Annie
 
She threw up her arms. "Me being Korean," she said, weighing each word, "has something to do with me not jumping into intercourse." She sealed her lips.  
 
Michael Bahler

 

Second Place in the Vanity Fair Essay Contest
 
In El Paso, they sold the car and took the dog, two backpacks, the money from the car, and my father's three thousand dollar inheritance, and they crossed the border into Mexico, heading due south.  
 
Eli S. Evans

 

On the Subject of Window Cleaning
 
"That's right, Alfred. Are you listening, class? Did you hear what Alfred said? Anything can happen. But we must learn from the world. We must see in its confusion, form. We must thread patterns in the way of a seam. A fabric. We must wear it like a dress. Anything can happen, and it will."  
 
Duncan White

 

A New Neighborhood
 
This is the bit where I should step down onto the sidewalk and walk away, but his face has already opened towards me, and I'm snagged, waiting for his words. The muscle at the top of my stomach is contracting, trying to tell me that he's only going to ask for money or try to take it from me by force.  
 
Mark Vender