Short Story
STARLING ALLEY
The lane was uneven in every possible way. The brickwork gutter ran not quite down the middle creating an uneven slant to both halves of the dog-legged little byway. Even during peak hour traffic or the busy city nights, there was never any traffic. In the window of one of the town houses that backed onto this urban capillary stood a thin woman in an old fashioned house dress. Her silver hair gathered in a hastily prepared but still perfectly shaped bun.
By Grant Kininmont3 years ago in Fiction
Crow Secrets
It happened on the couch on our front porch. That old couch that had been out there since Mama decided a few years back that we needed a new one. Some new neighbors moved in down the road and she saw the fancy couch that they pulled out of the back of the moving truck. Daddy said he didn’t think there was anything all that special about it, but Mama did. She went on for days about the white, lacy upholstery and wonderful leather trim. For the next week, whenever she walked through the family room, she would look at our couch and sigh. And the louder she would sigh, the more frustrated Daddy would get. White upholstery wouldn’t last three seconds in this house with all us kids runnin’ round and all the dirt comin’ in from the farmhouse every time someone opened and shut the kitchen door, he would say. Daddy was right. I didn’t think the neighbors’ couch was gunna look real great after one of our long, dry summers when the dust crept in even the tightest shut windows and layered itself up in every nook and cranny. Heck, the white linen napkins that were tucked away in the dining room drawer even seemed to turn brown in the summer. Mama knew this was true too and eventually said that it didn’t have to be white, but that she still wanted a new one. And she continued to sigh every morning as she passed the couch on her way to make breakfast for me and Jake and the twins. And then, one day, comin’ home from school, there was our couch, out on the porch. When I went inside, I found Mama sittin’ all smiles on a brand new blue couch. She was quick to point out the carved mahogany feet. The neighbors’ couch didn’t have no carved mahogany feet.
By Megan Clancy3 years ago in Fiction
Locket of Emotions
You ever have one of those days you can’t forget? Well, I can tell you about yesterday which I can’t seem to stop thinking about. I was already having a long day by ten or so in the morning. So me understanding you can’t help anyone if you can’t help yourself had me ready to go for a walk and think about something other than my life. Now this wasn’t me fantasizing about being rich or famous, this was more so me questioning why they force you to stay alive when you’re probably better off. After walking and clearing my head I noticed this guy that seemed to be walking with me. Now I’m confused, because it seems like he’s been talking to me while walking with me and was asking me a question. I tried to think of something catchy to say that might change the subject to something else. “ You know what? It’s pretty hot outside we should go get something to drink.” He was quick to respond because he must have been thinking the same thing. So we go to the store buy some water and then he asked me if I wanted a ride home. Perfect right, because I wasn’t really tired from walking but I just didn’t feel like walking home so of course I’ll take an offer for a ride seriously. Consistently his car just seemed to be park at the gas pump, which was questionable, but I didn’t feel like asking myself anymore questions about the reality I live. So while he driving he tells me he saw me walking and parked his car at the station so he could walk with me and guide me to safety because it didn’t seem like I was paying attention. For that I was most definitely grateful. He tells me how he hasn’t seen me in a while and after my car accident I just seemed to have disappeared. Luckily one of his friends said I ended up moving to the area he was in at the time hoping he’d run into me. I smiled but I honestly didn’t care and since I already had the GPS up on my phone I just spaced out again, but not enough to not see what he’s doing, I had to copy his actions so he felt like I was listening. So as we pull up to my house he puts the car in park and grabs my hand. I listen to him tell me how he wants to actually hang out one day , which so happens to be today, and he had something to give me. Now I don’t consider myself above taking candy from strangers but this, this was completely different. He put a box in my hand and said he made this specifically for me. So I’m thinking okay should I open the box in the car or after I get in the house. Thinking was pointless because he started opening it for me, like okay cool. So inside the box was this beautiful necklace like a diamond heart shaped locket, but he said it wasn’t diamond because I didn’t have his last name yet. Whatever it was I liked it until he said there was something important he had to tell me before I put it on. Like “Okay here we go, just tell me before I don’t want it anymore.” So he says it’s a prototype and he thought I would be the right one to give it to because he put some thought into it after him and his friends made the decision. Now I don’t know how to feel about a group of guys sitting at a table judging me but again I really didn’t care. So before getting out the car he tells me “ If you ever feel the need to cry let your tears fall inside of the locket and it will show you what’s in your heart before attempting to make it into reality. It’s something like those little mood rings you could buy in the store, so it does change colors to fit your emotions and if it ever turns red you have to, I repeat HAVE TO calm down.” I figured it was a speech he practiced in front of the mirror to persuade me into putting it on if he ever got the chance, so I picked it up and it started glowing the pale green color. He said I was relaxed and had my attention, so I asked him to help me put it on knowing I could but I figured he wanted to anyway. So while he’s putting it on he says he’s going to pick me up tomorrow so we could hangout and catch up on missed time. This was a good idea because sitting in the house all the time was getting annoying, I just couldn’t get anything done. I accepted his offer and put my number in his phone because one thing I can not stand is someone popping up at the house unannounced.
By Jazmine King3 years ago in Fiction
Pretty little nightmare
5 years before: July 21st I swear the way people act when something out of the norm happens you would assume the world was ending. You would think the fact that it has been winter since last October and it is now July, wouldn't cause mass chaos, yet it does. People hoarding essentials and non essentials alike, the same people refusing to even help their neighbor while looking down on those less fortunate. 10 months of below freezing weather, occasional snow fall, and semi busy streets, have became the normal every day life. Random sicknesses that leave kids and adults alike hospitalized, some even dead, with no idea what medicine would heal or help, and all we get is global warming, a pandemic or even doomsday, but no real help or insight.
By Sharon Marie3 years ago in Fiction
Ethan
[8/17/XX 16:47] FACILITY 4 DR. ERMINE CALLASTER - CENTER MONITOR [Subject #6] Subject has reached full maturity after 6 cycles. We have provided it with only positive stimuli in order to receive better results than the last experiment. The community is still cleaning up after the devastation caused by Subject #5 who has since been terminated. The Nurture department has seized full control of this project with promises of a peaceful future and are fully willing to hand it over if the subject proves to be dangerous.
By Elise J Lewin3 years ago in Fiction
Doomsday Diary
Diary entry, August 26, 2071 Our family is driving back to the, now burned, home that we had to abandon when the wildfire entered and devastated our town. We want to look for anything salvageable in the ashes. As we drive along the “escape “route, by the burned -out cars, with burned bodies in them, and more burned bodies on the roadside, where people had tried to escape on foot when traffic was jammed, I wish I could say that I’m surprised or shocked by this. But how could I be surprised, when this scene is so common?
By Janet Robinson 3 years ago in Fiction
Franklin Evermore
In Alaska in the spring, great grizzly bears gorge themselves on berries. A diet of northern red currants, raspberries, low-bush and high-bush cranberries, and crowberries turns bear fat pink. Berry-fed bear fat is melted down and mixed into teas with honey. It’s used for making biscuits, pancakes, and waffles. Women, and men, too, apply the rosy fat on the skin and it cools and tones the complexion, and it gives hair a healthy shine. It’s believed by some to restore hair, fortify gray matter, and increase sperm count. Berry-fed bear fat may as well be rose gold — it’s as expensive. An ounce can sell for a hundred dollars. Each year in the spring, hunters come to Alaska in search of brown bears, kodiak, glacier, and black. Franklin Evermore is one such hunter.
By Tony Marsh3 years ago in Fiction
She Searches For His Soul In Someone Else's Body
She walks the streets at night as though she’s the crusader of her heart, her body and her soul. But all she rules is a dark and murky empire where stale tobacco smoke fills the air. In her kingdom are stains on the bar counter, surround by stools reserved for the lonely. When she takes her seat on her throne, her wine glass becomes her magic wand. Each night she arrives just as the darkest of the night sets in, dressed in a silky dress, sparkling jewels and shoes that are slightly frayed.
By Author Alice VL3 years ago in Fiction
THE TINY TITAN
Cracked. Scattered and lost. Pushed away by the rend in the path. The little ant was out searching. The dedicated soldier marching in the wild. I wondered what it was that caused to navigate so. His road was rough and covered with gaps and spidery cracks. Why was it that it came this way?
By Grant Kininmont3 years ago in Fiction
The Locksmith
The Locksmith The sound of gunfire faded as I pressed my back to the steel brace door. Darkness enveloped me, the blanket of night keeping me safe… for now. The uprising had started quickly and rapidly grown out of control, as was our aim. Yet, I knew it wouldn’t be long until they found me. They always found us eventually.
By Jodi Nicholls3 years ago in Fiction
Only Human
The building trembled lightly as another explosion echoed from the distance, causing the ceiling to cough out dust from between its crevices. Constantly and without fail, the alarm system’s buzz rang over and over again. Its loud persistent sound was rivalled only by the clearly spoken recording of a woman’s voice as it echoed through the room, “Warning, the city has been breached...”.
By J. R. Lowe3 years ago in Fiction