II. While working Samantha pondered the shift in the wind, the heft of a particular stone, the bend in the youngest trees. She especially liked imagining ways everything in the universe might be connected. Some days she imagined she heard that very sound. Some days she imagined the taste. She was good at surprising herself. She was a good worker. Allen was happy.
I. Samantha wore an apron to keep her clothes clean while doing whatever tasks Allen asked her to do. She was a good worker. Allen was happy.
II. While working Samantha pondered the shift in the wind, the heft of a particular stone, the bend in the youngest trees. She especially liked imagining ways everything in the universe might be connected. Some days she imagined she heard that very sound. Some days she imagined the taste. She was good at surprising herself. She was a good worker. Allen was happy. I. Samantha wore an apron to keep her clothes clean while doing whatever tasks Allen asked her to do. She was a good worker. Allen was happy.
It struck her as kind of sad the way he asked it. Hesitant, like he had heard "no" too many times lately, as if each denial of his fame cut the lines deeper into his face. She felt sorry for him. Wished it were twenty years ago. But it wasn't.
Among My Souvenirs by Sharyn McCrumb, in A Century of Great Suspense Stories edited by Jeffery Deaver Now I know this pitch and it's nice, because of course I smiled back, and with that I was on the hook. A smile is nature's freeway: it has lanes, and you can go any speed you like, except you can't go back.
Cigarette Girl by James M. Cain, in A Century of Great Suspense Stories edited by Jeffery Deaver Photo taken in Books on the Square, Providence RI "Ten years ago," MacDonald said, "on my first case, one of the old-line Homicide boys steered me to him. Called him the Screwball Division, L.A.P.D. If a case makes no sense at all—and Lord knows that one didn't!—feed the facts to Nick Noble. His eyes sort of glaze over and something goes tick inside...and then the facts make a pattern.
The Girl Who Married A Monster by Anthony Boucher, in A Century of Great Suspense Stories edited by Jeffery Deaver |
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