Marlon Bradley
Bio
I'm just trying to tell the stories I want to hear. I consider myself to be a true lover of the English language, and I'm here to put that love on full display for the world.
Stories (13/0)
‘Caine & Abel
Fifteen minutes ago, I was good. Now, I can’t get my hands to stop shaking. My heart is beating a million miles an hour. My stomach feels queasy. I’m sweating like I just ran a marathon. “Why did you make me do that,” I screamed, “Why?!” That’s when the tears began to stream down my cheeks. I stood there shaking like a leaf, looking at the result of my actions. My crew grabbed me and stuffed me into the backseat of an SUV and sped off. That’s when I began to sob uncontrollably.
By Marlon Bradley 2 years ago in Criminal
The Syndicate
As the rooster outside her window crowed for the second time, Samantha’s eyes shot open. She quietly slid out of her single bed and stared out of the small window in her cell at Abbaye Notre-Dame de Bonne-Espérance, the Nineteenth century French monastery she had been calling home for the last six weeks. Just like everyone other morning she woke up in this small dorm room, she couldn’t help but wonder what one of these women could’ve possibly done to end up on her radar. “Your job isn’t to understand, Sam,” she reminded herself as she stared at the sun rising over the French countryside, “Your job is simply to execute.” When she wasn’t pretending to be a nun in order to accomplish her mission, Samantha was a member of a clandestine organization she knew simply as The Syndicate. In the six years she had been in their employ since graduating from Columbia with her Master’s Degree in International Affairs, she had become one of The Syndicate’s best agents.
By Marlon Bradley 2 years ago in Criminal
The Visitor
It was just a normal Sunday when the doorbell rang, waking her from her nap. She flung open the door and locked eyes with the devil himself. He stared into the windows to her soul for what seemed like an eternity, then with a charming smile on his face, he asked if he could come in. Before she could answer, he pushed past her and entered her home. “Come on in,” she said under her breath as she closed the door. She followed him into the living room and watched in amazement as he snapped his fingers and the room was magically cleaned.
By Marlon Bradley 2 years ago in Futurism
The Boy With Powers
He was tired of hearing how different he was. He just wanted to be normal. He was tired of how everyone in his small hometown stared at him. He could almost feel their eyes burning into him. And when he looked in their direction, they scrambled to not make eye contact. He felt like a carnival freak most days. “I can’t wait to get the hell out of here.” He dreamed of moving to the big city where he could be just another person walking down the street, not the object of everyone’s stares and whispers. He looked down at his hands. The golden glow around them hinted at the power and destruction he was capable of. “I’ve got to learn to control it.”
By Marlon Bradley 2 years ago in Futurism
Visitors
They had arrived earlier that day. I had just dropped my daughter off at school and was on my way to work when I hit an unexpected patch of traffic. I thought nothing of it until I finally realized that the cars in front of me were empty. I quickly turned off the engine and hopped out to see what was going on. A crowd had begun to form in the intersection. They were all staring straight up into what I thought was clear blue Tuesday morning sky. I tapped one guy on his shoulder and asked what he was looking at. He didn’t respond, he just pointed upwards. I turned my gaze in the direction his hand indicated and that’s when I saw it. Waves of fear and confusion crashed onto the shores of my consciousness as I tried to wrap my mind around what my eyes were taking in. I quickly rushed back to my car. I didn’t really have a plan, I just knew I had to get to family.
By Marlon Bradley 2 years ago in Futurism
Visitation Day
It had been 20 years since they’d seen each other, and neither knew what to say. David and David Junior, or DJ as his family affectionately called him sat and stared at each other. Each intensely studying the features that they had only seen in the mirror up until this point. They both seemed to be astonished by how much they resemble the other. The younger man had been trying kid this his whole life, but did his best to dismiss it. Even when presented with pictures to prove it, he still shrugged off the comparisons like a running back breaking a tackle. But now, face to face, he couldn’t deny the fact that he was basically staring into a mirror. The older man had spent the last 2 decades in Jefferson City Correctional Facility for manslaughter. And while the crime was committed in self defense, his public defender still pushed him to take a plea deal. “It’s better than the life sentence I would’ve caught for the weight in my trunk.” That’s the way he justified it at the time, and that same thought had brought him a sense of peace over the past 7,254 days. But here he was, just a few months shy of parole, staring at his doppelganger across a steel table.
By Marlon Bradley 2 years ago in Criminal
The Uber Driver
He smiled at her. She smiled back. He caught her as she began to fall. “We really gotta stop meeting like this,” he said with a chuckle as he helped her back to her feet. She let out a loud giggle in return, you know the kind that comes with being totally drunk.
By Marlon Bradley 2 years ago in Humans
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
Together they silently walked towards the restaurant, each hoping that the other would come up with an excuse for them to turn around and go back to their hotel. At this point, the flimsiest of reasons to reverse course would be welcomed with open arms. They both knew they were walking into a trap: a figurative one for her, a literal one for him. She was the only daughter of Angelo Giamatto, the Don of the Scaligniari family. He was a freshly graduated FBI agent assigned to New York’s White Collar Crime Division.
By Marlon Bradley 2 years ago in Criminal
The Bag of Money
The money was just sitting there. I couldn’t stop staring at it. In the midst of all the chaos going on around me, I found myself solely focused on it. I peeked out from my hiding spot to see if the coast was clear. Bullets were wildly flying through the air like hungry mosquitoes. I ducked down and gathered my nerve. Then I made a mad dash for the bag. Once I had it in my hands, I hugged it tightly to my chest and started looking for an exit. Right beside me, laid the freshly slain body of one of Gustav’s henchmen in a growing pool of his own bright red blood. His gun was just a few feet away from him. I started to grab it, but hesitated. What am I doing? I’m not a killer, I’m an accountant!
By Marlon Bradley 2 years ago in Criminal
‘Til Death Do Us Part
Jason loved Trina. He loved her more than words could ever say. And if you let him tell it, he had loved her from the very first moment he saw her. It was a warm spring afternoon in Atlanta. Jason and a few of his frat brothers had gotten together for lunch at Strip in Atlantic Station. And that’s when he saw her, standing in line to ride the Ferris wheel. It took every ounce of courage he could muster to walk over and ask for her number. Since then, they had been inseparable.
By Marlon Bradley 2 years ago in Humans
Five Minutes
A strange, old woman just stopped me to say, “In five minutes you will fall in love.” My wife and I looked at each other and shared an uncomfortable chuckle. I looked back at the old woman and replied, “I’m already in love, but thanks for the laugh anyway.” She softy shook her head and repeated her prognostication. My wife leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Maybe she’s trying to get some money.” I reached in my pocket and pulled out my wallet. I fished out a ten and handed it to the old woman. She just smiled at me and said, “Oh no my dear, that’s not necessary. Plus, you two are gonna need that more than me.” By this point, I was completely confused but I put the money back in my pocket. The old woman gave us another warm smile and walked away. My wife and I stood there for a few more moments, trying to make sense of what happened. Finally, we just shrugged it off and kept walking.
By Marlon Bradley 2 years ago in Humans
