Microfiction
My Superhero Origin Story By Hannah Moore. Top Story - August 2024.
This is a true story. What? Nobody said it had to be fiction. I’m a pretty ordinary person. An all-rounder, my teachers said. Shows potential. Well the thing about potential is it’s only possibility, and the thing about all-rounders is they excel at nothing. Don’t get me wrong, it makes life pretty…. adequate. I’m rarely terrified of losing my job, for example, because I believe I can secure another one before we starve, even if it wouldn’t be my first choice. It’s never my first choice.
By Hannah Moore2 years ago in Fiction
It Will Happen Tonight
In a normal little home on the edge of town, it's about to happen. Bathtime. The old water heater has been clanking all afternoon for this. Clean fluffy PJs are warming in the airing cupboard right now. A small girl with sparks in her eyes and a toothy gap under her milk moustache will stand on tiptoe to lean across the sink and squeak her finger through the steam on the mirror. Hot water churning into bubbles in the tub.
By L.C. Schäfer2 years ago in Fiction
Unlimited Returns
“Hey Pete, here she comes again. I wonder what she’s bringing back this time?” “Who knows? Since management came up with this, “unlimited returns” policy, she is in here almost every day. I’ll tell you, Dom, if it weren’t for her returning stuff so often, we’d be out of a job. Quick, look busy. She’s coming this way.”
By Mark Gagnon2 years ago in Fiction
The Covidian
Superhero Name: The Covidian Secret Identity/Alter Ego: Ill tempered Holiday Inn Express hotel manager Stephen Franks Origin Story: Stephen Franks is the only man in the world confirmed to have been infected with the original Covid-19 strain and all 26 known variants. During his 27th bought of the disease, he developed severe encephalitis and the resultant nerve damage in the brain caused him to develop a number of what have been characterized as "superhuman" abilities. He also developed a neurological disorder similar to Bells Palsy which resulted in a severe lisp, permanent paralysis of the left side of his face, drooping of his eyebrows and mouth, drooling from the right side of his mouth, difficulty closing one eyelid, and severe facial pain along with disordered movement of the muscles that control facial expressions, loss of the sense of taste on the front 2/3 of his tongue, and chronic tinnitus. He uses his superpowers to fight the greed and laziness of the hospitality industry whom he claims used Covid-19 an excuse to cut costs and reduce quality rather than as a source of severe disfigurement and painful disease as he did. He discovered his superpowers by accident on the day he learned of the new 5pm closing time for all hotel pools in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio which the hotel chains attributed to a shortage of lifeguards caused by Covid-19. The move was expected to save the hotels an estimated 1.5 billion dollars in combined labor and lawsuit avoidance costs. Stephen's anger at that policy caused two of his super abilities to activate. Eventually he would learn that all of his powers could be activated by anger and/or disgust.
By Everyday Junglist2 years ago in Fiction
Artist's Grasp
I have always loved capturing people, especially those unaware—the real them. Their essence. Even before I discovered... my powers. I would sketch a stranger quietly. I longed to own more than just their image, though. Two of my favourite quotes sum up why I loved it so much. While Steve McCurry said, "if you wait, people will forget the camera, and the soul will drift into view.", the late, great Oscar Wilde remarked "Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter." These words echo in my mind as I work.
By Paul Stewart2 years ago in Fiction
The Husband, His Wife, Pat and the Threesome. Content Warning.
So she says to me, "Let's have a threesome" and I'm like, "What?" And then she says, "I think we need to mix it up a bit" and I says, "Can't we just go to Butlin's or something or change where we do the grocery shopping?" And she says, "That's your problem! You've got no imagination!"
By Rachel Deeming2 years ago in Fiction
Shades of Shadows. Top Story - August 2024.
After so long alone, after the death of all he loved, really is it any wonder that he chose his path. Staring down into the fresh graves where his wife and son were to be buried in effigy, their bodies lost to the desolation of war, he broke away from the world. It was nothing to him any more, nothing. And yet, in his aimless wanderings, he found new purpose.
By Alexander McEvoy2 years ago in Fiction
Dating Deal-Breakers
As I sat across from him at the quaint little café, sipping my latte and gazing into his piercing blue eyes, I thought I had found the one. The way he smiled at me, the way he listened to me, the way he made me laugh – it all seemed so perfect. But little did I know, beneath the charming facade, lay a multitude of dating deal-breakers, waiting to shatter my heart into a million pieces.
By Alim Abdulsomad2 years ago in Fiction
