Microfiction
Let's Pretend This Never Happened
I really wish it hadn't come to this. We were having such a good time around the fire, drinking beer and reminiscing. Perhaps certain memories should stay in the past. Dan and I had 27 years worth of memories together and we always managed to survive the night. Until last night. Where exactly did the conversation go off track? When did Dan decide to shake off his inhibitions and simply become a stranger? We never argued. There was never any fights, any disagreements, or bad blood between us. Dan was my best friend. He was my hiking buddy and we would camp out overnight in the mountains every December. We've done this for over half our lives so why did last night turn into the nightmare it shouldn't have been? What was so different that had us turn on each other? I keep contemplating all these hypotheticals, all these scenarios, but I'm still coming up empty. My snow boots have really saved the day, up here all alone with no witnesses. I wasn't planning on hiking back alone, dragging this carcass behind me for 3 miles but I wasn't planning on a lot of things to happen. I miss Dan already but this has got to get done before the sun rises too high in the sky. I still have to double back and erase all traces of Dan and his presence here. I have to erase my tracks as well. I didn't know Dan's body could be so heavy.
By Anna Torres3 years ago in Fiction
The Unseen
Julia's train sliced through the blizzard, a lifeline threading through the heart of a frozen wasteland. She was alone in her compartment, the rhythmic clatter of wheels on tracks a soothing, if monotonous, companion. Outside, the world was a blur of white, the storm obliterating any distinction between land and sky. As night deepened, a sense of unease crept over Julia. It began as a whisper of movement in the corner of her eye, a fleeting shadow that vanished when she turned to look. The temperature in the compartment dropped, her exhaled breath visible in the dim light. Attempting to dismiss her growing fear, Julia wrapped her coat tighter around her, but the cold had somehow seeped into her bones. The train lights flickered, plunged her into darkness briefly before they steadied again. In that moment of darkness, she felt it—an icy touch on her shoulder, fingers as cold as the grave. Panic rose in her throat as an impossible truth became clear. An unseen presence shared her compartment, its existence betrayed by the cold and those fleeting glimpses of movement. Julia dared not move, her eyes fixed on the reflection in the window, where the outline of something—or someone—sat opposite her, leaning slowly towards her. The train hurtled on, a lone beacon in the night. But for Julia, the journey had become a nightmare. The blizzard outside was nothing compared to the storm she faced within, a chilling presence that defied explanation, riding the rails with her into the heart of the night.
By M Dannenfelser3 years ago in Fiction
Cold, Hard Truth
It never snowed until Mr. Nieven moved to the neighborhood. Snowflakes swirled, gently pattering to the ground as a moving van pulled into the driveway. Nosy neighbors clamored for a glimpse at the new occupant: a young white-haired man in a suit that matched his icy blue eyes.
By Morgan Rhianna Bland3 years ago in Fiction
Territory
We had delayed this meeting for long enough. Once a year, there was a get-together of all the concerned parties to discuss what was to be done with this bare patch of astral space. Recently, there were intrusions from mankind, but we were still in charge. We would decide what to do with our special place.
By Kendall Defoe 3 years ago in Fiction
Before I Fall to Earth. Content Warning.
I remember first learning about the states of matter in grade school. It all seemed simple enough. An ice cube was the safest example. The teacher put an ice cube on the table, then lit a fire from above. She watched as the ice slowly melted, leaving a puddle in its wake. Solid to liquid, just like that. It was magic.
By E.K. Daniels3 years ago in Fiction
Watching
Hoshi usually loved to sit outside her home that had big, beautiful trees and a pond that came right up to the house. She loved watching them as the seasons changed from one to the next, and the giant Maple tree that usually shed their leaves in the fall.
By Timothy E Jones3 years ago in Fiction
Snowman. Second Place in Snow Micro Challenge.
The boy sculpted a man from the New Snow. A snowman. His lonely tears fell against the frost, a smear of blood from his bruises, the salt of his sweat, and warm breath that summoned life from the barren landscape, as frantic flakes swirled down around them. He wrapped his scarf around the stoic standing figure, tenderly as though this simple visage were his elder brother, and ardently wished for the company of a true friend. A floating spirit, who'd long been lost within a cracked lake's frigid waters, whose essence had become one with the winter season, he encountered this vessel crafted by the boy and found it to be a fine resemblance of his former self, a suitable resting place for his soul. Boy, spirit, and winter's magic coincided in that moment. The snowman shed a tear in tune with the lonely boy's sadness, and a small pearl of ice dropped onto the boy's head. His cold hands, like those of a corpse returned to waking, unfolded and hugged the boy with a comfort the child had never before known. "I am with you now" the young man whispered to the little magician. "I will protect you, and take you away from this place, to wherever you want to go." The boy looked up, amazed that his desperate dream had come true. He remembered then, the stories told of shaping a wish from the first snowfall. And now he believed in his heart that anything could be possible.
By Ellen Stedfeld3 years ago in Fiction
