Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Fiction.
Bansko
Purgatory again. The clinical, unimaginative expanse between worlds. Somehow airport terminals all take on the same form all over the world. Some more decadent than others, but still unimaginative. I like to think this is for a reason, that they manifest themselves as a precursor to the experience of a new country, acting as a mental palette cleanser that washes away the unpleasantries that lead up to your departure. Regardless, I found myself here again. Slightly melancholic and uncertain how to feel about my return to Scotland, I absent-mindedly observed the comings and goings of its temporary inhabitants, as they made their way to and from various destinations around the globe. My mind drifted back to the beginning of my trip to Bulgaria. I revisited the slideshow in my mind, replaying a condensed highlight reel of events. Suddenly I found myself back on my departing flight from Edinburgh to Sophia.
By Jamie McLean3 years ago in Fiction
In Twilight After
In Twilight After A short story by James Kiehle He wondered: Am I the only one left? Sitting cross-legged in mud, Russ Perry held his daughter’s heart-shaped locket up against the ominous sun, watching light dance on engraved metal, the luminous ballet hypnotically transporting his jagged mind from this time and place back to before the—what was it? A war? A mistake? A prelude of the coming hard new reality.
By James Kiehle3 years ago in Fiction
Deep South, Keep Running
Waking from my nightmare, just to fall back into the same one when I was a child, was horrifying enough. Living every day through one, just to wake into the same one the next morning, with no hope for change, is far more unbearable. I find myself longing for the night terrors of my childhood to replace what atrocities the world today offers each morning. At least, then, I could eventually sleep. I remember very clearly the day that it all began.
By Star Besio-Sharp3 years ago in Fiction
The Heart Lottery
I’d been dreading this day my whole life. Well, at least once I was old enough to be told what would happen the 16th year on the date of my birth. I can’t remember exactly how old I was, but it was somewhere between six and seven. My mother made it seem almost like a fairy tale. It wasn’t until I got older that I discovered the grim reality of it all.
By Jude Liebermann3 years ago in Fiction
She So Wishes It Didn't
The world still turns. The seasons still come, and the seasons still go. Autumn changes the color of the leaves, and with winter comes the cold and the snow. In spring, the world cheers at the sight of blossoming flowers and new beginnings. And then in summer, laughter fills and lingers in the air. The world still turns.
By Author Alice VL3 years ago in Fiction
The Baby Bureau
Dea and Mort headed over to the Baby Bureau. They’d just finished their bio tests, plus they’d had their application installed in their frontal lobes to monitor their mental suitability for Bonding Officer training. Now for the final hurdle. Interview time!
By SARAH STEWART3 years ago in Fiction
The Last Mission to the Vandals
I swallowed the heart-shaped locket without a sliver of hesitation. The Vandals encircled me like grotesque effigies, sunken eyes gleaming within druidic headdresses of petrified flesh and bone. They rifled through my possessions in silence – the Southern Vandals had long lost their capacity for speech in the Great Undoing. Speculation ranged from industrial solvent abuse to mass vaporization of the vocal cords via atomic shockwave. The truth, however, remained elusive. Even voiceless, they were a people dreaded for their wanton brutality.
By J. M. Thompson3 years ago in Fiction