“Kelce” is among the top-trending dog names in the country—up 135% in a year—according to Rover, a Seattle-based matchmaker that connects pet owners with pet sitters and dog walkers. In addition people hung that name on other items: penises, vaginas, farts, gerbils, drinks, cats, streets. new stars, assholes, oral sex.
Each evening, Margaret set two plates for dinner—one for her, one for the silence. The chair across remained empty, untouched since Henry’s passing. She spoke aloud anyway, clinking fork to porcelain, pretending. Outside, the world moved on. Inside, time gathered quietly. Her only companion the frozen echo of remembered laughter.
She bloomed in a crack of concrete, defiantly. Commuters passed, blind to her grace, but one man paused. He knelt, wept, and whispered her name—forgotten until that moment. The rose listened, then wilted, her purpose fulfilled. By morning, only petals remained, scattered like secrets no longer needing to hide.
Wearing a soot-stained old straw hat, nineteen-year-old Micah (formerly Miriam) adjusts her suspenders and adjusts again. “The elders think it’s a new type of quilting bee,” she says, “but it’s really gender euphoria with potholders.” Once a bastion of literal black-and-white thinking, Amish enclaves are reportedly adapting to new expressions… Read More