Maximum Sentence

2011-07-03T18:38:00.000-07:00

Passing the streetlamps their shadows raced before them on the molded curb like the dummy rabbits at a dogtrack.

2011-05-04T10:09:00.000-07:00

2011-01-25T18:18:00.001-08:00

Doubled over in pain, he stared at the pink tiles and wondered if the grout between them had always been that color.

2010-11-04T16:51:00.000-07:00

After pressing the doorbell, Madeline stood on the deck and listened to the irregular thumping of footsteps from deep inside; they resounded through her body like a pulse slowed by sickness.

2010-03-10T06:03:00.000-08:00

Waterlogged by his dreams, Jake upon waking felt as if he was in his childhood bedroom, but the light coming through the slats in the condominium windows told him he was in a sunnier, distant place.

2010-03-05T13:16:00.001-08:00

He hummed at dusk.

2010-03-05T13:01:00.000-08:00

"It's broken!" he cried and pointed at the floor, with a painful pressure against the back of his eyes.

2010-03-05T12:57:00.000-08:00

He heard the furnace rumble in the basement and then a woosh as hot air blew in, hushed, from the vent by the baseboard.

2010-03-02T10:55:00.000-08:00

Dusty, choking heat poured out of the grey oldsmobile as if the sun was melting its purple interior.

2010-01-11T12:55:00.000-08:00

He told his friend, "This job suits me less than polka dots on a guillotine."

2010-01-05T13:40:00.000-08:00

As he crossed the snow covered baseball field, he heard the yawn of a jet overhead as it came into hearing range.

2009-11-11T05:46:00.000-08:00

He spoke with the authority of someone who's just discovered nutrition.

2009-09-14T16:34:00.001-07:00

His best friend was a mastiff.

2009-04-09T01:23:00.000-07:00

By the time he'd changed his clothes the bed was cold.

2006-12-18T21:23:00.000-08:00

He leaned his head back and chewed through a yawn.

2006-01-27T13:13:00.000-08:00

When he looked at the map of the Caribbean, every island was in a different spot than he'd thought it should have been.

2005-10-25T16:39:00.000-07:00

Nothing in the world could make him disagree.

2005-10-25T11:25:00.000-07:00

No one could convince him that the cookie wasn't worth it.

2005-10-24T14:16:00.000-07:00

Where's the grub?

2005-10-23T13:02:00.000-07:00

It'd sounded better when the hobo had said it.

2005-10-18T12:16:00.000-07:00

So, he went to Chicago.

2005-10-17T16:36:00.000-07:00

She dropped her cigarette in the grass and picked it up.

2005-10-17T09:12:00.000-07:00

His sniffles made him always a little delirious.

2005-10-16T15:32:00.000-07:00

The leaves at that speed burst sharply on his legs, so he took the road.

2005-10-14T14:44:00.000-07:00

Today everyone grew red hair and smiled at me.

2005-10-14T12:17:00.000-07:00

"Whoa!" and the baby grabbed his eyelid.

2005-10-12T08:42:00.000-07:00

They arrived to the cheery smell of coffee and vacuum cleaner bags.

2005-10-12T07:27:00.000-07:00

It smelled like woodsmoke but it could have been bacon in the air.

2005-10-11T06:41:00.000-07:00

A leaf fell a long way down and landed on her face -- her nose was irresistable.

2005-10-10T11:23:00.000-07:00

He fell in the leaves!

2005-10-10T10:27:00.000-07:00

He wore a cardigan, and needed it, for the first time in months, and it made him melt into autumn.

2005-10-10T08:19:00.000-07:00

The best he could do was say "Yes, okay."

2005-10-09T08:05:00.000-07:00

"I'm sore as a god," he said, "and all I want to do is sleep."

2005-10-07T20:04:00.000-07:00

"Stupid, stupid Cary! Stupid!" And his fists met his skull.

2005-10-07T08:05:00.000-07:00

"Get in the car!" It hurt to say his name.

2005-10-06T17:04:00.000-07:00

At first the sweater smelled like cat piss, but since he'd just rode home in the muddy rain he wasn't sure what'd caused the stink.

2005-10-05T19:51:00.000-07:00

They were at the bridge where John had said, "It looks fake."

2005-10-05T08:14:00.000-07:00

The humid breeze flitted the papers on his desk, rustling muddily and disturbing his sleep; it happened gently.

2005-10-05T04:58:00.000-07:00

He had gone upstairs, changed his shoes, taken a piss, and forgotten there was anything else he'd gone up for, leaving the card under a cleaner's receipt on his sill.

2005-10-04T16:37:00.000-07:00

"Goodnight. It was good having you again."

2005-10-04T07:46:00.000-07:00

The noodles were mostly salt and not enough to fill him.

2005-10-03T19:46:00.000-07:00

Bed was where he would stay today, until someone called for him, and even then he would only raise his swollen head, yell, and let it fall again.

2005-10-03T08:15:00.000-07:00

He gasped but it made him cough.

2005-10-02T20:33:00.000-07:00

"I may be big in Japan," he told her, "but people like you can still make me feel like dogshit."

2005-10-02T05:01:00.000-07:00

She torqued his arm until it bent like a garden hose.

2005-10-01T20:09:00.000-07:00

Her udder was sore as ever.

2005-10-01T10:46:00.000-07:00

One of the legs snapped and he fell on his side but it didn't hurt and he stayed there, watching the sideways lawn.

2005-10-01T05:58:00.000-07:00

After entering bed and blanketing myself comfortably, I curled to my side and met a beetle who'd just flown and stuck itself to the wall inches from my nose.

2005-09-30T20:47:00.000-07:00

The noise at the party made every object ache and ring.

2005-09-30T09:47:00.000-07:00

The heavy snow made the landscape suffer.

2005-09-30T04:09:00.000-07:00

It was silly, but the snow tasted sweet.

2005-09-29T19:13:00.000-07:00

He decided he could trust the ice, but then it boomed.

2005-09-28T16:43:00.000-07:00

He cursed, but realized it had been years since there had been a reason for the set to be clean.

2005-09-28T13:12:00.000-07:00

They were scattered; he crouched but the button wasn't anywhere.

2005-09-28T04:05:00.000-07:00

There were only acorns on the street.

2005-09-27T07:46:00.000-07:00

His top button popped off his coat.

2005-09-26T11:52:00.000-07:00

The Bell Atlantic man parked at the seawall for a sandwich and cigarette and fell asleep.

2005-09-25T08:25:00.000-07:00

The whole day is useful.

2005-09-24T11:34:00.000-07:00

He didn't want what she wanted, and when she realized that, she didn't want it either.

2005-09-23T10:56:00.000-07:00

My submachine gun panted.

2005-09-22T14:32:00.000-07:00

Behind the aquarium a heap of brownish squids rested on the dock, ten feet from the bag whose bottom had split and spilled them there.

2005-09-21T14:09:00.000-07:00

Butter, especially too much butter, reminds me of serious winter and kitchens and sleep.

2005-09-20T22:50:00.000-07:00

A new tooth that I have been hiding for years in my gums has surfaced, letting out some blood and making the idea of eating hard-crusted bread thrilling but impossible.