Archive for the ‘Short Stories’ Category:
All the Pretty Ones Die Young
A vision of myself had sparkled in my mind over two full bowls of cereal that morning, undimmed even by my mother’s ridiculous insistence that I finish off the last [...]
Dear Amelia
He knocked on my door in a mad fury, and I almost spilled my tea. After the first knock he waited patiently. Perhaps he was polite all the [...]
Divine Future
The reason why it didn’t happen until 2050, she told me, is that they didn’t invent the technology until 2150. It can only go back so far, she told me, [...]
Death of a Fairy
Snow lightly danced out of the sky, each flake choosing her finale carefully. Some wanted to leave an impression, and nestled on the ground with other flakes, hiding the grass. [...]
The Game
So, this was how it was going to be? My God, I don’t even have the strength. Ten hours and 22 minutes of bodily pain, three different positions, [...]
The Punishment of Man
The Pacific Ocean roars beneath me. I stand on the edge of the overhang and look out as clouds gather against the horizon. Storm coming in for sure. A small [...]
Running with the Bulls
“It feels different this time, don’t you think?”
I look up from my newspaper to Celeste who is standing with her back to me washing dishes. I know what she [...]
After Dinner
The intention had been for a celebratory evening. But in the taxi, on the ride home at the close of the night, silence prevailed and neither Eric nor Nedra felt [...]
The Cat and the Gun
My flatmate Chris was being bothered by a cat.
[...]
TLC: Tender Loving Care
‘So how’s Gilda doing today, Grace?’ Mrs Cooper asked.
‘Last night we thought she was a goner,’ said nurse Grace, as blunt as ever, ‘but she’s hanging on. She’s a fighter.’
‘She [...]
The Hunter
The Hunter crouched in the soft brisk snow. The light from the fading sun, already a gentile purple, brushed the tops of the unclothed trees, their leaves had [...]
Into the Night
Kyle had always been a levelheaded type of person. The difference between dreams and reality was never blurred for him; it was a crystal clear barrier distinctly separating two states [...]
Seventeen
An alarm sounds in the distance. Buzzing, barking, mauling the intricate silence of my slumber. My eyes wretch open much like a bird’s long retired wings — slowly and [...]
Martha
In short, Martha is a librarian. Her life is lived according to achievable goals, won through repetition and ritual that give order and meaning to her tidy existence.
At 5 [...]
The Time Traveler’s Ex-Wife
He materialized naked and shivering like he always did, his head swimming with the dizziness and disorientation that was common with the time shift. As it passed he felt a [...]
Growing Up Racist
“Hating an entire group of people based on what you know of their actions, is not racist,” She said with maniacal sincerity, “Only blind hatred of color, without regard to [...]
Ghost
I sit at my desk in the office, listening to the conversation in Connie’s cubicle. Malcolm, one of the accountants brings up a birthday party he went to over the [...]
Mouthful
Dentists’ don’t have a high suicide rate. That’s a myth. Most people think it’s true because it seems plausible and no one cares enough to research it. The dentist community [...]