26 May Red Balloons
1 A loud thud exploded in front of me. The precise spot which seconds earlier would have landed my body had it not been for the fate from the faint whine in the sky forcing me to halt in my tracks and look up. I would...
25 May Sophie and the Monarch
Mary Wyles My name is Richard William Kinnley. I’m seventeen years old. Other than that, I ain’t got nothin’ to say til my daddy and lawyer get here. ***** I gaze down the old farm road which stretches for miles in front of me. The hood ornament on...
28 Mar Garden of Statues
1 She stared at the detail of the concrete work. Reaching out, her fingers lightly touched the surface and found it to be very smooth. Every imperfection of the model’s body was detailed as if the sculptor knew her intimately. From the dimple in her chin...
27 Mar Under the Bed
1 My mom told me about Dad’s quirky habit of sleeping under the bed when he was young. My dad was a tough cookie, so hearing such a thing about him made it hard to believe. I guess his father had been in the Navy. Mom...
11 Aug All My Exes
1 Shad Hankins pushed the tavern’s shutters open, and stepped through, leaving them swinging behind, as he stopped just inside. His dirty off-white canvas riding coat hung nearly to the floor, dripping rainwater from the cold wet storm he’d been riding in. While his eyes adjusted...
22 Jul The Day the Devil Stole a Soul
1 “Dump the fuckin’ tiles out on the table, boy.” Billy John Cader said gruffly to his son of only fourteen years old who sat shaking in the chair with fear. Billy Jay had just celebrated, if that’s what it could be called, his birthday only two...
21 Jul Croaked
1 Olive woke up suddenly from her usual restless sleep. At nearly 65, she was now accustomed to never sleeping very soundly. After all, she knew they were out there—all slimy with stinking skin drowning in their own warts. Warts that would easily pass on to...
29 May The 8-Ball
Chapter 1 The Gift On my eighth birthday, in 1968, I got an odd birthday gift. I was certain everything it represented was true, and I was quick to ask it questions as I awaited the triangular answer to appear in its purplish-blue form underneath its black...
21 May Something Made My Brother Different
Chapter 1 I pulled up my shirt to study my back in the mirror. It stung. I couldn’t believe Wade could do this to me. If I’d held questions if this was only a game or real—I now knew as the pain and fear ripped through...
16 May The Pipe Bridge
Chapter 1 The thumping inside my chest pounded in a rapid cadence, not skipping a beat. I swear it felt harder and deeper with every slide of my knee drug across the rough and aging concrete encasement. Both sides of the ledge were separated by the...
22 Apr Symbiosis
Prologue Joie slowly opened her eyes, tingles of numbing sensations prickled throughout her body. Not being able to focus on any one thought, she attempted to squint through the foggy blurred vision at what she could make out. The color green was predominant along with hues...
02 Apr The Cadaver Transporter
Ghost from the Past “You know Jake...
01 Apr Eyes From Above
Chapter 1 Two Hundred- and Forty-Three-Miles Above Earth Ivan Babichev sat quietly staring through the portal, his blue eyes fixed on the distant planet he called home—Earth. His communication laptop sat blinking on the small desk next to his liquid-lock drinking cup of what I imagined was...
18 Mar Never Cage a Magpie
Part 1 A single white rose quietly fell from her slim young fingers. I looked down and saw it had landed on the dark walnut top of the casket. The beautiful wooden box somehow seemed out of place in the cold contoured hole in the soil....
04 Mar The Last Train to Clarksville
Suitcase in hand, you head to the station. There is no way in hell that you are going to forgive that lying, cheating bastard ever again. He can’t be trusted anymore, and you know it. You know his lies about working late nights. The smell of...
31 Jan Conversing With My Reflection
Chapter 1 I pulled the door open and stepped inside Dutch’s Tavern, it seemed familiar, but I paused at the entry until carefully glancing over the bar’s interior. My eyes scoured the inside from the left side of the door completely around to the right of...
29 Jan The Tire Swing
Chapter 1 I grew up being a bit of an explorer at heart. It hadn’t exactly come naturally, but instead through my family’s forced moves from army base to army base. I turned ten this year and I was on at least my eighth adventure to...
28 Jan The Illusionist
The Act The large metal plate was secured with long threaded bolts into the enclosure. These were applied and tightened down by two skimpily clad, dark-haired assistants, or vassals as they were called, and appeared to also be identical twins. The cage looked to be impenetrable...
27 Jan The Drowning Pond
Chapter One Tanner Lee Palper, or Tilper as people had called him even before he could remember, sat on the old rustic bench he’d put by the pond years ago. His pole sat leaning against the limb that jutted towards him from the water. It was...
07 Nov Thanksgiving From Hell
Chapter 1: Man’s Best Friend The sound of Duane’s Dodge diesel pounded a steady thump with a deep cadence as it idled up the dirt drive to the barn. The sun was setting but it still hung just above the ridge that rose above their farmhouse....
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