fact or fiction

1. The postman was good-looking: graying hair, chiseled features, blue-gray eyes. But he was no less an asshole than if he had been as ugly as a toad.

2. Professor Brentwood strode into the steel-gray hallway that connected each of the studios in the industrial-arts building. Her golden curls cascaded down the front of her shoulders; her white smock, which protected an ankle-length black dress, was covered in layers of clay and glaze. When Annalee saw her, she knew. This was the woman who had stolen the heart of her husband; this was her sworn enemy.

3. Dogs bounded in the fenced park. For the most part, the wrestling and barks were of the friendly variety until Stan let Middlebrooks off his leash to join the rollicking herd.

4. The bed, the clock, the curtains.

The metal bed.

The low humming buzz of the clock.

The flimsy curtains that let in too much light for anyone to get any rest.

The army hospital where no one visited and no one left alive.

5. Only Jim could see the truth, only he knew the wool was being pulled over their eyes. Though he was not a scheduled speaker, when there was a pause between the candidates, he rushed onto the stage, stood behind the podium, cleared his throat, and spoke loudly into the microphone. “All is not lost,” he said.