
Here around Tampa sometimes Leo and I have been on a horseback ride. We love animals and sight of hay and dirt, even if we don’t have skill for riding. Down Brandon Way, past all the supermarkets and dollar discounts and Kentucky Chicken drive-ups, there is pastures and quiet country.

We came home with black hands. We smelled like car engines. We looked like flat tires by the end of the week and it was just another thing no one understood.

Winner of the 2017 Best of the Net Award – Nonfiction – Judged by Kiese Laymon.

She cradles the bunny to her neck. Her ring is thin and gold and has a small, dull diamond in it. The man snorts. “Good way to get eat up,” he says. “With your goddamn eyes closed.” The woman hums, her head bending over the softness in her hands. She smiles at the man. She…

A 101-word story that perfectly captures one of Florida’s many dualities.