Mind-numbing white light from simultaneous shell bursts scattered the men, some dead before they hit the ground others screaming for a medic. The soldier flinched and involuntarily turned his head away, using his hands to shield his eyes. Beneath him, the earth rumbled and shook....
I do not remember the exact date I started noticing the changes. At first, they were small, a missing pen, a strange fob on my key ring, a TV left on a station we never watched, and other weird stuff. The first time I mentioned...
“Forty years with the same company. That’s a long time.” Robert Harris shrugged as he pushed the soggy salad around the paper plate with a flimsy plastic fork. He looked at the young intern sitting across from him. “Time goes fast, Thomas. It didn’t feel like...
It would just be for the summer, they said. Just until they ‘worked some things out’, they said. As the TV screen turned to static again, Eli was starting to think that summer might as well be forever. “Grandma! The TV’s broken again!” Eli heard the clacking of...
Bill was carrying all of his wife’s baggage after their Sunday at the mall when she decided to have another meltdown. Something triggered her. Nothing major, something small. It may have been the tone in Bill’s voice when he absently remarked about… something. It may...
There’s one hard and fast rule about me. If there’s a new chick at school and she be hot, she’s mine. It’s not a matter of if I’m making it all the way with her. It’s a matter of when. And no, I don’t mean getting...
He’s talking again. Why is he talking? Jesus Christ. And my tie. Feels so goddamn tight. Like I’m being choked to death. Maybe if I just stick my finger in there, pull it out more. Get some fucking relief. But I already did that. God...
No coverage, not even one bar. The battery was dead anyway. It was still daytime, but it was overcast, and the sky had a perfectly even dullness so there was no way to tell what time of day it was, much less which direction was...
I found the place one night after an especially heated argument with my ex. Now, I’ve never actually been the type for guns, but something about the venue interested me when I passed it by. I think it was the privacy. Open 24 hours, the bright glimmering...
“Summer homes are for rich people, Allen.” I’ve been known to spend money on things that I don’t need. Sometimes it can be hard to determine which products are necessities and which are simply desires. My wife Brittany is usually the one who keeps my head on straight,...
“Imagine you were alive in the 1980s, and you were told that computers would soon control everything related to life. From shopping to dating, to even supercomputers in the palm of your hand or an international invisible network that connected you to literally anyone on...
Would you believe that three simple gold tokens changed my life? They clattered to the bottom of the arcade machine, and the screen in front of me turned from dark blue to a splash of pixelated orange and yellow. Rhythmic sounds beat out from the speakers on...
“Once upon a time, there was a big bad wolf–” “Mom!” Heather cried out loudly, cutting her twin sister off. “She’s doing it again!” The girls’ mother, Tracy, appeared at the door, flicking on the light and mock-glaring at the two beds across the room. Heather was...
Last week I was alone in my bed. I’m not alone tonight. He’s right next to me. He’s not supposed to be here, though. Last week I was a senior in high school and completely in love with Steven Hooverson. Truth be told, I’ve been in...
My wife and I were house hunting. We’d been saving for years to get the down payment together. A lot of struggling and cutting corners were finally going to pay off. We had visited five houses in various neighborhoods, trying to find the right fit...
I used to think everyone had an inner voice. A little disembodied narrator that, when unfocused, sounded familiar yet not. But something we could take from our own voice and turn into that of a celebrity, a cartoon character or whatever we wished. So it was...
I’ll say it plain; The acquisition of Nazi party member Wernher von Braun was not the most heinous action NASA committed. Not by a long shot. By the time I’m done here, you will not look up at the sky in the same way. I want to...
I should preface this by stating that I’m not much of a smoker. Wow, amazing tone to set on a 4/20 experience, right? I just don’t wanna lie to you, not when discussing the shit that went down. I’ve finally focused enough to talk, I...
I’ve lived in this town all my life, I know all the weird traditions that come with living in a place as remote as mine. But nothing explains what happens at our Deer Park. I used to come out here most evenings during the pandemic, park...
It is as it sounds. Incredulous as it may be, I promise there is an explanation within. I’ve been the Sheriff of a little town called Sturgeon for nearly 23 years. In that time, I’ve seen many a horrific incident descend upon our town, fall out...
