Compunction

compunction

1. a feeling of uneasiness or anxiety of the conscience caused by regret for doing wrong or causing pain; contrition; remorse.
2. any uneasiness or hesitation about the rightness of an action.

By the time Raquel arrived at her daughter’s school, she had ran through two red lights, ignored several stop signs and mercilessly interrogated herself, wondering what she could’ve possibly missed.

Her afternoon meeting had lasted longer than expected. An hour later she realized she had missed the school’s voicemail, reporting that her daughter was in the nurse’s office after collapsing on the track during gym class.

Raquel tried to maintain her composure, but the thoughts of her own past at her daughter’s age were haunting her. Like skeletons that had been revived, memories came out of the closet to torture her, whispering questions of “what if…”

What if she’s not eating?

What if she’s following in your footsteps?

What if you lose her the way your parents almost lost you?

“No; she eats. I see her. We have dinner together almost every night,” Raquel said aloud, uncertainty tinting her words.

Yeah, but what if she’s

Rollick

rollick

1. to move or act in a carefree, frolicsome manner; behave in a free, hearty, lively, or jovial way.

Tea with the ladies.

It was their monthly ritual. But it felt more like torture than a family event, at least for Naomi.

The middle child of five daughters, she sat on the overly stuffed pink sofa, visually tracing the furniture’s wood trim.  The overhead fans in the sunroom stirred a light breeze, moving their hair beneath their ornate derby hats. Why they would wear such hats was beyond her, but it was something her mother insisted upon.

She observed the women in her family as they sat around chatting about the latest fashions, the town gossip or what their husbands had last purchased for them. This bragging was part of the ritual, until the conversation inevitably turned to her.

“You’re just so…”

Here it came, another well placed insult.

“…So

Paroxysm

paroxysm

1. any sudden, violent outburst; a fit of violent action or emotion: paroxysms of rage.
2. Pathology. a severe attack or a sudden increase in intensity of a disease, usually recurring periodically.

Matthew loved lazy Saturday mornings when he could sit with his wife and enjoy a simple breakfast. He gazed at her as she sipped on the remainder of her coffee. It seemed like a cliche, but she truly was as beautiful as the first day he’d seen her.

Even her hands were stunning.

Matthew raised her left hand to his mouth and kissed her fingers. A sticky film of that morning’s blackberry jam clung to his lips.

“I feel like I won’t be able to make it another week without getting my nails redone,” she muttered, taking a sip of her coffee.

Primping and beauty products were his wife’s obsession.

“Yeah, that’s what our neighbors were just saying, when I came in from my jog this morning.”

Kally’s coffee mug paused midair.

“Come again,” she prompted.

“Oh, they just mentioned how they can tell what day it is based on your scheduled beauty routine,” Matthew said, swept up in the intensity of his wife’s deep brown eyes.”They were outside packing their SUV for some camping trip and said that it’s obvious you’re

Harum-Scarum

harum-scarum

1. reckless; rash; irresponsible: He had a harum-scarum youth.
2. disorganized; uncontrolled.
3. recklessly; wildly: He ran harum-scarum all over the place.

It was a standoff.

Time was ticking and only one thing separated her from obtaining her true desire. It was clear. This came down to one question: how badly did she want dessert?

The raw broccoli reclined on her plate, taunting her, daring her to choke down the taste of dirt as her passport to the creamy bliss of mint chocolate chip awaiting  her in the back of her freezer.

But try as she might, even the beautiful shade of bright green did nothing more than initiate twisted looks of disgust on her face. Throughout the years, the snarled lip and furrowed brow had been a constant reaction at the appearance of this one vegetable. Whether it was dinner made by her mother or lunch at a friend’s house, it didn’t matter. With a knack for creativity, she had always found some way to dispose of the vile abomination,

Apotheosis

apotheosis

1. the ideal example; epitome; quintessence: This poem is the apotheosis of lyric expression.
2. the elevation or exaltation of a person to the rank of a god.

Lillie skipped down the hallway. The sound of her patent leather shoes creating music as they struck against the oak floor. Her curled pigtails caught the fading sunlight as they flew through the air and grazed the top of her shoulders.

She turned the corner, heading toward her parents’ bedroom, excited for the evening ahead. But her smiled drooped drastically as she slammed into an unexpected wall of wailing.

There on the floor was her younger sister, Lisa. Hair askew, dress halfway on her slim body, barefoot and screaming, it seemed she was having another one of her “episodes,” as her mother called them.

Lisa rarely seemed to want to get dressed in anything other than her

Nudnik

nudnik

1. Slang. a persistently dull, boring pest.

The heavy vibration of thunder shook the house, causing the windows to rattle. Already two hours in and the storm showed no signs of dying down.

This was Patrick’s favorite weather to write in–dark and stormy, and thoroughly volatile. He used to churn out chapters like fresh butter in this type of setting. But ever since his debut novel hit the New York Times Bestseller’s List, writing a follow up novel had seemed like an impossible task.

His fingers hovered over the metal keys of his grandfather’s antique typewriter. Balled sheets of paper littered the floor of his study like the hail on the grass outside his window. Most of the crumpled mass had no more than a word or two typed on them.

The sky popped with lightning now, illuminating the heavy clouds above.

Words rose to the surface of his consciousness like bubbles of gas from the bottom of a bottle of soda. The scene materialized in his mind’s eye, the words came faster as he

Opuscule

opuscule

1. a small or minor work.
2. a literary or musical work of small size.

The sound of a creaking floorboards echoed up the stairwell and reverberated throughout the slim two-story house.

She wasn’t alone.

Ameena’s pulse raced as she moved quickly across the room.

She knelt beside her bed, shoving slips of paper between the pages of her book before hiding it underneath her bed. Later, she’d need to move the notes back to their regular spot, behind the baseboard, for safety.

A gentle tap against her wooden door came just as she repositioned her orange shawl over her head. She quickly clasped her hands together on her lap.

“Did I interrupt you, Sister?”

“Prayer is an ongoing conversation, Brother Joel,” she forced her voice to sound calm, “one can pick it up at any time, regardless of the length or importance of the interruption.”

She gave him a pleasant smile. He gave her one in return, but Ameena saw through his veneer. Joel’s had a smile like a snake.

Bailiwick

bailiwick

1. a person’s area of skill, knowledge, authority, or work: to confine suggestions to one’s own bailiwick.
2. the district within which a bailie or bailiff has jurisdiction.

High-pitched whirring filtered from the projector, competing with the smothering silence. Dust danced in the angled light that illuminated the expressionless faces of her compatriots.

It was impossible to overlook. They were questioning her judgment, as if she were the newest member of the agency, as if she hadn’t been hired specifically for her bailiwick.

She didn’t see who it was, but someone toward the back of the room, opened the door and quietly exited without a second glance or even voicing their opposition.

More dust was stirred as people began to filter out of the makeshift meeting room.

“Ken?”

“I’m sorry, Cassandra…it’s just too risky…” He shook his head as if the helpless look on his face would make her feel any better.

“Risky?!” She could feel her blood boiling.

“No! What’s risky is waiting another 24 hours while our people are held hostage behind enemy lines–their lives are at stake!”

One by one, each operative exited the small concrete room, leaving Cassandra alone with her dread.

She turned off the

Dilatory

dilatory

1. tending to delay or procrastinate; slow; tardy.
2. intended to cause delay, gain time, or defer decision: a dilatory strategy.

The mess scattered around the family room spoke volumes. And her son, sitting on the couch nonchalantly eating Cheetos and watching television, screamed of irresponsibility.

She surveyed her son and lamented his dilatory nature, resisting the urge to compare him to his father. Her late husband never ate anything that wasn’t organic, but he had the same uncanny ability to calmly exist in the eye of a hurricane. That was not Patricia’s strength.

“Matthew…” She was straining to keep her composure. Her husband used to throw around the term OCD when she got like “this.”

“Matthew!”

Her son’s head whipped around in her direction,

Etymology

etymology

1. the derivation of a word.
2. a chronological account of the birth and development of a particular word or element of a word, often delineating its spread from one language to another and its evolving changes in form and meaning.

The sound of the shuffling of heavy books and the sporadic flipping of pages interrupted Ana’s concentration. She looked around the library, scowling, in an attempt to glare at the inconsiderate culprit.

Her eyes landed on a rude thin young man moving several books about frantically, searching for something within the pages. He stopped suddenly, his index finger stabbing at

Mavourneen

mavourneen

1. Irish English. darling; dear.

Curtains shifted in the light breeze. Air flowed throughout the house as doors were opened and closed every few minutes. Outside the sun was shining, but inside a shroud of heaviness hovered like cumulonimbus clouds on an April afternoon.

People walked to and fro, stopping to talk in hushed whispers, as if they were concerned about disturbing him. They didn’t know. He couldn’t be disturbed at this point. No one could break the thin glass that contained his heart; it was already cracked.

“I’m so sorry Benny…your mum’s in a better place…”

He knew there was so much he would miss about her.

Her laughter…her quick jokes about Old Man Smith and his perpetual sour moods…how she used to call out to him over the meadow when it was time to

Deleterious

deleterious

1. harmful; injurious: deleterious influences.
2. injurious to health: deleterious gases.

The house was quiet. Everything was in its right place, but something was markedly different.

As Michael Griffin opened the front door, a bevy of aromas beckoned to him from the kitchen. He glanced at his watch. It was slightly after 6. His wife usually got home after he did and she rarely cooked.

She wanted something.

Just then, Jessica Griffin came around the corner in a green dress and heels, her hair pulled back. She looked stunning.

Yeah, Michael observed, she definitely wants something.

He didn’t have to wait too long to find out what was on his wife’s mind. No sooner had he begun savoring the tender piece of