Imagine smiling after a slap in the face. Then think of doing it twenty-four hours a day.

A book floated down the Amper River. A boy jumped in, caught up to it, and held it in his right hand. He grinned. He stood waist-deep in the icy, Decemberish water. “How about a kiss, Saumensch?” he said.

in the trees this afternoon, he was a giver of bread and teddy bears.

All my friends seem to be smart arses. Don't ask me why. Like many things, it is what it is.

I'm sorry. I shouldn't be asking such things...' She let the sentence die its own death

The Germans in basements were pitiable, surely, but at least they had a chance. That basement was not a washroom. They were not sent there for a shower. For those people, life was still achievable.

He's most likely robbing the bank as a paycheck on the world for winning the ugliness prize at his local fete three years running.