A.C. Ahn's Blog, page 10

Random Start of a New Book

Sometimes the beginning of a new season is like the beginning of a new year–filled with hope and anticipation. Even dread. But most of the time, it just creeps up on you, like death. Not in the ominous way death is so popular for being portrayed as in movies and other books, but in the […]

How to Improve Concentration and Performance

A lot of writers explore different ways to stay ahead of their lazy-selves. There are common practices to stay focused and improve performance, such as drinking coffee or eating healthy. While different people have their own methods of maintaining success and a routine that works, there are a couple of simple, yet perhaps not quite as […]

A Different Angle

It was like looking through a used lens for the first time; From a different angle Picasso spoke to me, beauty emerged. I can’t believe the scribbles in the hardwood floor, Nor can I believe I’ve never seen it before. Critters rain down from the orange in the sky And stack like old pennies for […]

Check Engine Light

I wrote this short story a year and a half ago, and at the time, it was almost 3,000 words. Although it didn’t amount to much, I always liked this story, so I decided to revisit it and edit it down to a short short story. Here is the result: 1,495 words   “Three For […]

Silent Night

1,360 words   3. Splotches of thin ice infest the road, taunting drivers into a game of hide-and-seek. Marco Carroll does his best to spot the reflections up ahead, swaying his green Honda Civic in small increments, tracing the movements of a jittery snake. The setting sun isn’t helping, shoving rays directly into his eyes. […]

Mediocrity

Morning dew collects on the grass too heavy to soar and too light to trickle unlike the tears that gloss her face dwindling of heat and patience. And through the frames of another I accept my salary of weekends and butter; face buried in bread made by a baker too proud of his occupation to […]

Heaven

It’s a sanctuary of unknown variables, and it doesn’t matter if you lived your years better than the lives before. He has curated existence merely by lying here, and we take turns lining up in front of the golden gate. Children do not wail. The birds will not die down. We wait for the angels […]

Late Latte

Whenever the lights go out I can see into the past— hundreds of years ago.   The coffee shop lays on top of a burial ground.   I am too tired to notice ghosts and too awake for the nightmares.   When the bartender grabs my arm I open my eyes to see   a […]

+1

They say when you fall in love you lose two friends; that’s what I read. But I must be lucky, because I gained one instead.

Walking the Plank

3,390 words   “Just do it,” Tom heard Matt command. “Do it and don’t turn back.” Matt was wearing his favorite snapback, the logoless one he had found in his stocking almost three seasons ago. (His other presents from under the tree were either edible, playthings, or hand-me downs. And what was new was Christmas-sweater […]