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Latest Stories

April 10, 2025
Flash Fiction amishra

Code Black

"A horrific past is echoing again. Somewhere, a horrific truth had been buried and forgotten. A truth so vitriolic, that it would dissolve the guts of even a strong-minded, seasoned surgeon. Abhyuday Sharma had no clue about any of this before he joined New…
April 10, 2025
General Stories amishra

I Love The Way You Smile

Panjim, Goa, comes alive as the sun dips below the horizon, casting a golden glow over the Mandovi river. The narrow streets hum the rhythm of night at the characteristic laid-back tempo of the city. Tucked along a bustling lane near the riverfront sits The…
April 10, 2025
Flash Fiction yuan changming

Autumn Tiger

Walking back to my hotel from Yasi, where I had my three meals every day, I noticed several ads for rent, which caused me to reflect on my awkward situation. As her mother could be dying at home any time after two strokes in a run, Hua had moved to Shangyite…
April 10, 2025
General Stories Markus J

The Border Crossing

"Passports please" demanded the border guard, to the Western couple. They nervously handed over their lives. Two military men flanked the guard .Resting in their hands, machine guns, locked and loaded. Both men looked into space with a deadpan stare. Thinking…
April 10, 2025
Science Fiction Stories Robert Hugh

Protection Of Time Is A Necessity

As Gek Quasar walked around the city, he thought how different the Earth of the past was. He had been briefed before he left that an unauthorized time travel device had been detected travelling from the thirty-first century to three thousand years in the…
April 10, 2025
Flash Fiction Jim Harrington

The Accidental Suicide

Whack! Jessica swings the axe and curses Wendy, her thirteen year old daughter. She’s in her room sulking, as usual. An annoying noise she calls music escapes to the backyard where Jessica continues her therapy. Whack! She takes another swing, this one for…
April 10, 2025
General Stories Mubita Joseph Mubita

Death Day

It was a dark and stormy night as I made my way through the old abandoned mansion nestled near a river. The wind howled outside, rattling the windows and doors, making the entire house shake and feel as though it was alive. I shivered as I stepped into the…
April 10, 2025
Poetry Markus J

The Demons Are On The Hunt

the demons are on the hunt they lurk in the shadows these days without sun dark dark these days the demons take pleasure from the victims pain a cycle never ending round and round it goes eyes soulless ice drips inside veins as the hammer falls time and time…
April 10, 2025
Flash Fiction David Hagerty

A Shameful Affair of Honor

What began as a routine day on Capitol Hill turned into a scene reminiscent of the Old South when a quarrel over paternity testing degenerated into a duel. The U.S. House of Representatives was debating a provision on mandatory testing for single mothers…
April 07, 2025
Poetry Markus J

The Mirror Of What If

sentimental is a word that evokes a feeling from a memory a memory of a certain place a certain time a time that brings a smile or a frown but the questions remains unanswered That drifting sands forever change- and he present becomes the futures past…
April 07, 2025
General Stories Michael Barlett

Centurion

Britannia, AD 148 Chapter One Three piercing blasts from a ram’s horn emanated from the high ground overlooking the valley. The signal was immediately answered by others positioned along its length. The Roman soldiers marching below hesitated momentarily,…
April 07, 2025
Poetry Paweł Markiewicz

The Elegy To Orpheus

Your lute became supernaturally amaranthine. Its melody belonged to marvel of realm full muses. The tender Gods love you – Orpheus and your musing charm. And your homeland – worshipped each of your dreamy songs and ballads. Soft birds and dazzling animals –…

Mario Ober, a forty five-year-old bachelor, hung up his white lab coat,  looked around his lab to make sure his important  projects were in a state of suspension, input the directions to his unit,  stepped on the transporter pad, pressed a button, and he was transported to his unit.. It was a two-room unit with kitchen facilities. In the living room there was a sofa, a chair, and an entertainment-communication monitor that measured six-feet by six-feet. Because of toxic air, there were no windows.  However, a giant air purifier, that he invented, was housed in a twenty-five-story structure and worked constantly to bring clean air to the inhabitants of the community.

Mario had everything a valued member of the community could want…everything except the love of a woman that, to him, was more important than all the material things that were given to him as tributes to his genius.  He was lonely.  ¬His friends and colleagues had arranged dates for him, but they were always a one-time meeting.  He always tried to get a second date, but he was always refused.  Mario had many first dates but never a second.  Mario would come home from work, eat a synthefood dinner and watch television. It seemed to him that in all the shows he watched, there were a man and woman in love.  At the end of a show, he turned off the television, sat on the couch, and felt very sorry for himself.  “Every man on television has a girlfriend,” he said and stared at the blank screen.  After thinking about the television shows, he closed his eyes, and wished as hard as he could for a woman.

“Hi, Mario,” a beautiful woman who appeared on the screen said.  Mario jumped up and stared wide-eyed at the screen.   “Wha…what am I seeing?”

“You’re seeing me, Mario.  My name is Kara.  I’m what you wished for…aren’t I?”

“Well, you are a beautiful woman, and I don’t know where you came from, but…yes, you are what I wished for.  Where did you come from?”

“I came from your brilliant mind.  You created me.”

“Then you’re not real,” he said sitting down.  You’re a figment of my imagination. I can only look at you.  I can’t touch you.  I can’t hold you in my arms.”

“Yes, you can, Mario, just wish it,” she said, he wished, and she appeared next to him on the couch.” Mario was stunned and slowly reached out and touched the shoulder of the beautiful, naked woman sitting next to him.  “See, I’m real.”

“And you’re naked.”

“Yes, I come that way.”

“If you want me to have clothes on, just wish it.”

“I think it would be better,” he said and wished for her to have clothes on.  Immediately, she was dressed.  “You look very nice.”

“Thank you, Mario.”

Mario fidgeted. “Well, uh, it’s time for bed.  Uh, I have a guest room if you’d like.”

“Mario, don’t you want me to sleep with you?” she asked sounding disappointed.

“Uh, yes, I do. I do,” he said, and she took his hand and went into his bedroom.  That night, Mario had what he dreamed about for many years; he had never been happier.  In the morning, Mario got out of bed and looked at Kara.  “I don’t believe this is happening to me.  She’s everything I’ve always wanted.  Hmm.  My life would never be empty if I had two like Kara.  Another beautiful woman, who will love me.  They could keep each other company while I’m at the lab.  I’ll do it,” he said, went to the living room, stood in front of the screen, and wished for a beautiful woman.    Immediately, a beautiful woman appeared on the screen.

“Hello, Mario, I’m Dira.  Do you want to hold me?”

“Oh, yes,”   he said, made the wish, and the naked woman appeared in his arms.

“You’re naked.”

“Yes. I come that way.”

“I’m going to dress you, if you don’t mind,” he said, wished, and she was dressed.

“Do you want me to go to bed with you, Mario?”

“Uh, yes, but I have to go to work right now, but I’ll be home in a few hours.”

“Okay, Mario, I’ll be waiting,” she said, and he went to the transporter pad, that was by the front door, punched in a code that was on a pad on the door, and he disappeared.

At the end of the day, Mario transported home.  When he appeared, he was greeted by three policemen.  “Wh…what’s going on?”

“We responded to a report that there was a fight, a loud fight and screaming coming from your unit,” Officer one said.  “We found your two women on your bed. There was blood everywhere, and we found two carving knives…one in each victim’s hand.  It looks like they fought and killed each other. We’re very sorry for your loss.”

 

The moral:  (From the Bible) “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

The End

Bio: While teaching speech and English at a community college, Mr. Greenblatt wrote short stories and plays, one of which won a reading at Smith College.  After retiring, he wrote short stories, novellas, and plays.  Several of his stories were published in on-line magazines, and others were published in print anthologies.

 

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