black
grey
blue
red
brown
white

We hit the sidewalk, and dropped hands. How I wished, right then, that the whole world was a street.

Aimee Bender

I like birthday cake. It’s so symbolic. It’s a tempting symbol to load with something more complicated than just ‘Happy birthday!’ because it’s this emblem of childhood and a happy day.
AIMEE BENDER

Birthday Cake Childhood Complicate Happy Just Load Something Symbolic Tempting
Many kids, it seemed, would find out that their parents were flawed, messed-up people later in life, and I didn’t appreciate getting to know it all so strong and early.
AIMEE BENDER

Appreciate Flaw Kid Later Life Mess Parent Seem Strong
There’s a gift in your lap and it’s beautifully wrapped and it’s not your birthday.
AIMEE BENDER

Beautiful Birthday Important Lap Think Wrap
This is why everyone who eats a Whopper leaves a little more depressed than they were when they came in. Nobody cooked that burger.
AIMEE BENDER

Burger Cook Depress Eat Everyone Leave Little More Nobody
I watched as she added a question mark at the end. Arc, line, space, dot.
AIMEE BENDER

Add Dot Line Question Space Watch
We’re all getting too smart. Our brains are just getting bigger and bigger, and the world dries up and dies when there’s too much thought and not enough heart.
AIMEE BENDER

Bigger Brain Dry Heart Smart Up World
I peeled the skin off a grape in slippery little triangles, and I understood then that I would be undressing every item of food I could because my clothes would be staying on.
AIMEE BENDER

Clothes Dating Grape Item Peel Skin Slippery Stay Triangle Understood Undressing
As soon as you laugh from nerves or make a joke or say something just to say something or get all involved with the bushes, then you blow open a window in your house of desire and it can’t heat up as well. Cold draft comes in.
AIMEE BENDER

Bush Cold Desire Draft Heat House Involve Joke Laugh Make Something Soon Window
Before she knew it was candles, did she think she’d done it herself? With the amazing turns of her hips.
AIMEE BENDER

Amazing Candle Done Herself Hip Knew She Think Turn
To see someone you love, in a bad setting, is one of the great barometers of gratitude.
AIMEE BENDER

Barometer Gratitude Love Setting Someone
I am not happy, help me — like a message in a bottle sent in each meal to the eater, and I got it. I got the message.
AIMEE BENDER

Bottle Eater Esch Happy Help Meal Message Sent
She is the first gesture that creates a quiet that is full enough to make the baby sleep. My genes, my love, are rubber bands and rope; make yourself a structure you can live inside. Amen.
AIMEE BENDER

Amen Baby Band Create Enough First Full Gesture Inside Love Make Rubber Sleep
I could feel the tears beginning to collect in my throat again, but I pushed them apart, away from each other. Tears are only a threat in groups.
AIMEE BENDER

Again Away Beginning Each Groups Other Tear Throat
My eyelids are my own private cave, he murmured. That I can go to anytime I want.
AIMEE BENDER

Anytime Cave Eyelid Private Want
While she cut the mushrooms, she cried more than she had at the grave.
AIMEE BENDER

Cry Cut Cutting Grave Moving Mushroom Simple
The wine glasses are empty except for that one undrinkable red spot at the bottom.
AIMEE BENDER

Bottom Empty Except Glasses Red Spot Wine
I don’t think so, I don’t agree. The most unbearable thing I think by far, she said, is hope.
AIMEE BENDER

Agree Far Hope Said Think Unbearable
Large meadows are lovely for picnics and romping, but they are for the lighter feelings. Meadows do not make me want to write.
AIMEE BENDER

Feeling Lighter Lovely Meadow Picnic Romp Writing
Kissing George was a little like rolling in caramel after spending years surviving off rice sticks.
AIMEE BENDER

Kiss People Rice Rolling Stick Survive Year
My genes, my love, are rubber bands and rope; make yourself a structure you can live inside. Amen.” – Aimee Bender (Willful Creatures: Stories)
AIMEE BENDER

Band Gene Inside Love Rope Rubber Story
That she might not actually know us seemed the humblest thing a mother could admit.
AIMEE BENDER

Actually Admit Humble might Mother Seem She
The stories themselves haunt, they stick around, they linger, inhabiting a little corner of the reader’s brain and resurfacing to evoke mystery or sadness or longing.
AIMEE BENDER

Around Brain Corner Evoke Inhabiting Mystery Reader Resurfacing Sad Stick Story
Pouring over me, but it was a different kind, siphoned from a different, and tamer, body of water. I was her darling daughter; Joseph was her it.
AIMEE BENDER

Body Darling Daughter Different Kind Pour Siphoned Tamer Water
I felt the crumpled paper that had taken the place of my lungs expand as if released from a fist.
AIMEE BENDER

Expand Fist List Lung Paper Release Taken
and I get refill number three or four and the wine is making my bones loose and it’s giving my hair a red sheen and my breasts are blooming and my eyes feel sultry and wise and the dress is water.
AIMEE BENDER

Bone Eye Four Giving Hair Lose Number Wine Wise
You feel wonderful, you feel like somebody knows you’re alive, you feel fear because it could be a bomb, because you think you’re that important.
AIMEE BENDER

Alive Bomb Important Somebody Think Wonderful
If everything kept to its normal progression, we would live with the sadness-cry and then walk-but what really breaks us cleanest are the losses that happen out of order.
AIMEE BENDER

Break Clean Cry Everything Happen Lose Normal Order Parent Progressive Walk

We hit the sidewalk, and dropped hands. How I wished, right then, that the whole world was a street.

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We hit the sidewalk, and dropped hands. How I wished, right then, that the whole world was a street.

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Popular Authors

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