A “pencil shaving” is a single sentence—silly or serious, narrative or declarative, poetic or frenetic—written in response to a topic chosen by the editors, such as “greetings” and “baldness” and “octopus salad.” From the collections of shavings submissions, the editors compile the most interesting assortments and post them here (all shavings are subject to editing). Upcoming topics appear on the home page. To submit, please consult the TBPO Writers’ Guidelines.
ALL Pencil Shavings topics below are now open for submissions! Read, write, submit!
| Recycling |
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My brother sat on the bed, rumpled from his date with Cara and tired from last night with Maria, and said, “I feel like a tin can.”
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| Nakedness |
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He held the ear in his hand a moment, examined the yellow boils, and glanced at the floor, where the green shucks lay like locks of hair at his feet.
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| Outhouses |
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Genny smelled bile, but it was the only place Jacob wouldn't find her; she could hear him still counting by the oak.
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| Hotel Beds |
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Instead, he had the steering wheel, a reclining seat, and a few more bills in his wallet.
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| Migration |
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The girl locked in the desk beside mine is a comrade; she likes the seamless transition that pondering offers between here and there, between reality and the safe concave of the mind.
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| Photo Booths |
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It started innocently enough: they wanted silly photographs, until the curtains closed around them.
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| Baldness |
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... And the Red Sea parted.
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| Greetings |
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His breath was of vinegar and morning, and when someone's breath is of vinegar and morning, you study his oral cavity—the white sheath of salt on the tongue, the bars of saliva like a mouth guard—rather than listen to what the cavity is saying.
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