The Word Worker

Category: Modern/Realistic

  • The Chapel

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    wordworkerrussell
    in ,

    “Boris, dorogoy, please come away from the window! The hall will not come to you, no matter how hard you stare. We must go to it, and soon or we will be late and the Chinovnik will mark against us.” Boris sighed and twisted his cap in gnarled fingers, his eyes not leaving the hall.…

  • The Christmas Gnome

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    by

    wordworkerrussell
    in ,

    Ellen switched on the light in the cluttered garage and sighed. She had put this off as long as possible but with the house being listed in a week there was no more time. Maybe she could just load all the boxes and junk without opening them, haul them to the dump, be done. She…

  • The Old Sleigh

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    wordworkerrussell
    in ,

    Of all days for the truck to break down, Liam grumbled to himself. The coldest day of the season so far, and the only way to get the feed out was Gramps old wooden sleigh. Good thing he hadn’t sold Trix and Mule like he’d planned. The fat things were about to earn their keep…

  • The Assignment

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    wordworkerrussell
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    “Today’s writing assignment is to write a one page short story using this picture.” “It’s a rowboat!” “I don’t know how to write about a rowboat!” “That’s a wooden framework, y’all.” Now, kids, there are many elements in the picture. There’s a sunset, and water, and a boat, and you’re right, some kind of wooden…

  • The Test

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    wordworkerrussell
    in ,

    Su Lin stood on the steps of the brick building, hands twisting the tail of her shirt into a tight knot. Today was the day. In a moment she would step through that door into the Naturalization Office. Mr. Munro would be waiting for her in his stuffy little office, a jar of pens and…

  • The Cafe

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    wordworkerrussell
    in ,

    The Cafe was still there, tucked away in its remote little corner. The structures surrounding it had grown even older and more drably brown with time, a stark contrast to its bright colors and neat facade. In the afternoon light it almost seemed a sun unto itself. The evening rush had not begun, and the…

  • The Mirror Image

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    wordworkerrussell
    in ,

    The Mirror Image raced the storm. She was the fastest sail on the bay, but this was the greatest race of her career. A race with the wind itself. It was a beautiful storm. The sun rose gold ahead of her, lighting the water with its false promises of the day ahead. Behind her, dark…

  • The Bench

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    wordworkerrussell
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    It was perfectly placed, halfway down the walking trail along the river, looking out at the park across the water. The city’s most popular view. In the morning the sun rose behind it over the skyscrapers, leaving it in the shadows as people hurried to work, but in the evenings… oh, the evenings! The river…

  • The Memorial

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    wordworkerrussell
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    There they hung, the uniforms, lining the hallway where they had hung all my life. It would be the last time he walked past them for many months, probably years. He took it slowly, pausing before each one to remember. First the cuffed olive green of his great-great-grandfather’s, the pockets fraying away and the seams…

  • The Frost Bubble

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    by

    wordworkerrussell
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    Nevaeh blew through the wand, her breath white in the crisp air. I shivered, wishing I had taken the time to grab my coat before following Nevaeh out here. Despite skin the color of chalk and deep hollows in her cheeks she seemed unbothered by the cold. Moving ever so slowly, she touched her bubble…