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    By the Bi-
    By the Bi-
    By the Bi-
    Ebook80 pages1 hour

    By the Bi-

    By I Feel Pretty

    ()

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    About this ebook

    There are two sides to every coin (unless you have one of those two faced coins, you cheater.) If you live in Chicago, like we do, there are two of a lot of things: baseball teams, seasons (winter and construction), sides of the city... I Feel Pretty brings you second chances and second chapters, served hot and fresh with a second helping of pretty people.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherI Feel Pretty
    Release dateFeb 22, 2012
    ISBN9781465760296
    By the Bi-
    Author

    I Feel Pretty

    I Feel Pretty is a writers collective based in Chicago. The stories are totally free on our website, but you can download them onto your various e-reader and tablet type things here.

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      Book preview

      By the Bi- - I Feel Pretty

      By The Bi [#2]

      I Feel Pretty Writer’s Collective

      Published by Gibson Culbreth and Wyl Villacres

      Copyright 2012 I Feel Pretty Writer’s Collective

      (All Rights Reserved, Individual Authors Retain Ownership)

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Table of Contents

      FICTION

      1. Ocean Graveyard- Virginia Baker

      2. Magic Eight Ball- Liz Baudler

      3. Carnival- Sayla Blackwood

      4. Atrophy- Shelbie Janocha

      5. Lucy and Eleanor- Ben Kramer

      6. Doggy Style- Amber Ponomar

      NON-FICTION

      7. How to Write a Research Paper in Less Than 24 Hours- Brittany Selters

      8. Getting Arrested- Lisa Mrock

      9. Casino- Wyl Villacres

      NOVEL EXCERPT:

      10. Breathe- Gibson Culbreth

      11. Kaplan Waking Up- Jazy Jes

      Ocean Graveyard

      By Virginia Baker

      Charlie’s boat was a worn down dinghy that he bought from an old fisherman his father knew. It used to be Charlie’s pride and joy. He would spend hours onboard, sanding the floor, painting the sides, refitting the old ropes that were holding up the sails. But the boat was beginning to lose the magic it once held. What was once Charlie’s escape from reality was now his cage.

      The sun was shining as he adjusted the sails and checked the motor before beginning his day. Even at midmorning, the unavoidable promise of a hot afternoon was clear. Only a few other men were out on the dock, some returning from their early morning fishing trips, unloading their catches, showing off to the other men, some getting ready to leave.

      He heard the sound of the rattling of wheels as they rolled over the wooden boards of the dock and he looked over his shoulder to spy the two delivery men, Frank and Buster, both of them big, stocky men who were overdressed on this warm day, making their way to where his boat sat at the end of the dock. They were pushing a big, refrigerator sized cooler with Arnold’s Bait Shop printed on the side in orange letters. Charlie picked his bucket hat up from the floor of the boat and pulled it over his long, oily hair that he hadn’t washed in weeks. He gave his scruffy beard a scratch before climbing out of the boat to meet the men.

      Hey there, Charlie, Buster greeted him as they stopped in front of the boat. He wiped the sweat that was beginning to bead on his forehead. How ya doing on this beautiful morning?

      Can’t complain. How are you boys doing? Charlie stood in the boat, looking up at the men on the dock, studying the cooler, trying to determine what kind of day lay within it today.

      Not too shabby. Buster bobbed his head up and down. Frank was looking out beyond the both of them, out into the sea that glimmered in the morning sunlight. We got a pretty big shipment for you today.

      Well, I better get a big pay for it. Charlie tried to sound hard, but he just sounded tired instead.

      Don’t you worry, old man. We’ll have your money ready for you when you drop the cooler off at the truck tonight. Charlie didn’t like the way they called him old man. It wasn’t even apparent to him whether he was that much older than these two boys.

      They began the process of loading the cooler onto the boat. Fastening ropes around the cooler, they began to lift it, using the pulley system installed on the boat. The vessel leaned dangerously to one side as the cooler was suspended into the air and transferred into the boat. It took a few minutes for the boat to stop rocking and settle into the water.

      Alright, Charlie. We’ll see you at the usual spot. And with that, the two men left Charlie standing on his boat, the cooler sitting before him, an ugly sore he could never rid himself of.

      Things weren’t always this way. A few years ago, he was a real fisherman. He had a crew of two young men and he would float atop the water all day, bringing home loads of fish as the sun set. But now he spent long days by himself and he only caught fish when a desire would overcome him. He didn’t need the money anymore and he didn’t want to spend more time out on that ocean than he needed to.

      He was in his mid-forties and had a wife, Josephine, the girl he had for most of his life. Together they had a daughter, Angeline, who was seven now, just beginning to accustom herself to the weight of the world. Her sweet smile and the way she would jump into his arms at the end of the day, screaming Daddy! as he walked in the door was the only thing that Charlie looked forward to these days.

      His heart had grown heavy. The soft fluttering he once felt in his chest had become lead that pulled at his insides. The world was playing a terrible trick on him, turning him into something he once hated. He stopped caring about Charlie. He let his hair grow long, trickling past his chin. Sometimes he pulled it back, but more often than not it was wild, blowing around violently in the ocean wind. His scraggly beard that grew on his jaw line covered most of his mouth. Josephine hated the salty smell that clung to his facial hair and she would offer to wash him. I’ll be gentle, she would offer, but Charlie shrugged her off. He figured he should be as filthy as he felt inside.

      He never wanted to get into this kind of business. Charlie was a completely harmless guy and no one would have figured he’d be mixed up in anything unholy. Which is why he was sought out to partake in this ugly deed. No one would expect it. And he couldn’t turn down the price tag that came along with the job. "Besides, they’re

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