February 1, 2018 / Maisie Smith
My fingers itch and my brain feels like it’s buzzing with bees. An unforgiving To-Do list stares back at me from the post-it note stuck to my desk, but I can’t focus on anything until I get my fix. I need to scroll. I grab my phone and tap my finger on the big blue “f” […]
read full articleNovember 27, 2016 / Maisie Smith
It was 2 a.m. on a random Tuesday in September. I was wrapped in a blanket on the sofa watching The Twelve Men of Christmas, eating olives straight from the can and wondering how it had all come to this. I should be writing. I should be creating. I looked over at my laptop and […]
read full articleMarch 4, 2016 / Maisie Smith
The first time I remember taking a stand against anything was in kindergarten. Recess was over and it was snack time. I sat at a miniature round table with other 5-year-olds, watching the clock tick for what seemed like an hour. Where were our snacks, dammit? The teachers were supposed to provide snacks upon our […]
read full articleJanuary 21, 2016 / Maisie Smith
When I was a little girl, I used to check out obscure books from the library. Before you go thinking that I was some sort of enlightened child who had no time for the frivolousness of Judy Blume, please know I had a heart-tugging ulterior motive for perusing the dusty racks: I felt sorry for books. […]
read full articleJanuary 7, 2016 / Maisie Smith
I wrestled the clunky machine into place and fired it up. Clods of soil and grass flew everywhere as the wheel–spinning like a buzzsaw–flung itself into the ground. I planted my steel-toe work boots firmly into the dirt, grabbed the vibrating handles, lifted the wheel slightly and began shaving the tree stump in front of […]
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