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Barb Dukeman
Bio
An English teacher by trade, I’ve spent 32+ years in the classroom, instilling a love of literature (and a tolerance of writing) in my students. I started reading at the age of three and started writing at 13 with a poem about green socks.
Stories (122/0)
My Writing Journey for 2024
Publish or perish. Although this phrase was birthed by academic writing, I don’t take this aphorism lightly. Writing is a vital component of the humanities, and the humanities endure, defining what it means to be human. I’ve always had a dream of publishing: at first it was a book of poetry, then perhaps a collection of short stories or even a novel. In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Mark Antony says, “The evil that men do lives after them;/The good is oft interrèd with their bones” (Act III scene II). This line resonates with me; I don’t want to be remembered by the mistakes I’ve made in my life or by the mundane or morose anecdotes that may be passed down. After I watched the animated Disney movie Coco, I don’t want to be forgotten by my family.
By Barb Dukeman5 months ago in Writers
Forever Innocent. Runner-Up in the Whodunit Challenge. Content Warning.
Headmaster Percy Blackburn took his spectacles off and polished them with a cotton handkerchief. He repeated this habit often, which signaled to the girls of the Chiller’s School for Young Women he was agitated, upset over a perceived transgression from one of his charges. Euphemia Wood, his assistant, would immediately fetch him a glass of absinthe in response. It was a habit that repeated itself often.
By Barb Dukeman6 months ago in Criminal
Predator. Content Warning.
Beth signed sat in front of her laptop which cast an eerie shadow on the wall behind her. Her friends encouraged her to join an online dating site to find a decent person. After a string of losers since she left college, she had nothing to lose. Her father, a local sheriff’s deputy, warned her about those sites being dangerous. He’d seen the damages firsthand.
By Barb Dukeman6 months ago in Criminal
The More I Lose, the More I Win. Content Warning.
This is not a typical essay on weight loss. I am not a typical person. Don’t expect recipes for darling cupcakes made of cauliflower and kale. I am stubborn, smart aleky, protective, immature, sincere, intelligent, intuitive, and sometimes a pain to be around. You should learn from my mistakes. Also understand I am NOT a physician and have NO medical background whatsoever. You should always check with your doctor before you change anything in your life regarding your health, like skydiving or maybe having that weird mole checked out while you’re there.
By Barb Dukeman7 months ago in Confessions
No Oasis. Top Story - November 2023.
I’d fallen off the wagon, again, and felt ashamed of all that I had done to hurt my family. I was just fifteen years old when I had my first rum and Coke at a Las Vegas casino. It didn’t help that my parents had a well-stocked liquor cabinet at home. That began my lifelong misery of fighting and losing, getting my AA tokens, hitting the liquor store after a meeting with money I “borrowed.” Something about the intoxication seemed to be the anchor to my soul; nothing else could match it. Addiction is a disease, and I was fully infected.
By Barb Dukeman7 months ago in Futurism
Helena's End
Smoke curling through the pale orange sky over the distant hill indicated to Helena that morning was on the horizon. The fires provided warmth for the remnants of that small village whose people hunted for rats or squirrels, cooking them over crude stone pits and metal grates. Sand stretched in either direction, making supplies difficult to obtain. In the distance, Helena had become a scavenger as well, digging through the heaps of destruction that occurred when one world state clashed with the other years ago. The war yielded no winners, only broken people, pawns struggling to survive.
By Barb Dukeman7 months ago in Futurism
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