Quick Work: Out of Control No. 2

Quick Work: Short Takes on Epic Truths

Here, in 100 words or fewer, writers make quick work of compelling true stories, in the lead up to Multiplicity’s 2024 Spring/Summer issue, OUT OF CONTROL.

Dark-haired Man Wearing a Coat and Facing Forward with a Cell Phone at his Left Ear

Another Night Life

by William Grussenmeyer

“Work all night?” I asked into the phone.

“Until six am,” Amos said.”

“At that sewage facility?”

“Yep. Still here. Gotta keep the homeless out.”

“Out of a sewage place?”

“They steal anything they can. Or sleep inside.

There’s an encampment right outside.” He paused for a few seconds. “I gotta watch out for the serial killer too.”

“Did you say serial killer?”

“Some guy going around killing homeless people.
They know who he is. Can’t find him. Cause he’s homeless, too.”

“I haven’t seen anything on the news?” I asked.

“News don’t care,” Amos said.

Photo by Tommy van Kessel on Unsplash

Pink and red Splotchy Wall Stain that Resembles Modern Art

Divorce by Ketchup

by Robyn Weaver

I blame Heinz.

They had to go and change the labels on their ketchup bottles, and if they had never done that, Daniel would have never come up with the idea that I was trying to poison him, or that Heinz was somehow in on it. I would have never said how crazy that sounded, and he would have never thrown his dinner plate against the wall, leaving that permanent gash that bled red for days until I had the heart to wipe it clean.

Photo by Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash


About the Writers

William Grussenmeyer and Robyn Weaver, Bay Path MFA candidates, wrote these pieces in the Multiplicity Studio class during the 2024 spring semester.

The Quick Work series is curated by Kate Whouley and Heidi Fettig Parton.


QuickWorks Featured Image Number 1

Quick Work: Out of Control No. 1

Quick Work: Short Takes on Epic Truths

Here, in 100 words or fewer, writers make quick work of compelling true stories, in the lead up to Multiplicity’s 2024 Spring/Summer issue, OUT OF CONTROL.

Man and Woman Tucked in Close to one Another, Holding Hands on Sofa

It Will Be Okay

by Monica Deck

“Baby. Tell me I’m not having a heart attack.”

This happens a couple of times a month, if my meds are off or I’m in a pain flare, or if the sun rises in the east or the butterfly flaps its wings on Tuesday in New Mexico.

We sit on the couch. On a deep sinus inhale, his fingertips find mine, dry pads slightly rough from frequent washing.

Palm to palm is holy palmers’ kiss.

He brings my hand to his lips.

 “You’re not having a heart attack,” he murmurs against my skin, and kisses my hand again.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash.

Close-up of a Woman’s Painted Red Lips and Half Smile

The Lips that Deceive

by Sarah Leete Tsitso

I’ve mastered the fake smile. You’d never guess what’s really behind my upturned lips—exhaustion, frustration, anger—bubbling just underneath the spot where my long-absent tonsils once lived.

Years spent networking, business cards clutched in one hand and vodka soda in the other. Playing that role—pretending to care about your boat docked in Narragansett—has eaten away chunks of me. Death by 1,000 hours of small talk. Boredom and fury masked by my favorite shade of lipstick.

The smile doesn’t reach my eyes. To notice, you’d have to look up from my breasts. But that seems unlikely.

Photo by Cesar La Rosa on Unsplash.


About the Writers

Monica Deck and Sarah Leete Tsitso, Bay Path MFA candidates, wrote these pieces in the Multiplicity Studio class during the 2024 spring semester.

The Quick Work series is curated by Kate Whouley and Heidi Fettig Parton.