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Latest Stories

March 19, 2024
Fantasy Stories Wondering Monk

Just My Imagination

The alarm clock went off and started playing an awful tune. Tom opened his eyes and closed them back, squinting. He reopened one eye and stood up to stop the torture. The phone was on the desk, in the furthest spot from the bed. Although he changed his way of…
March 19, 2024
Science Fiction Stories Ocelotlzin

Earth Is Dead

Recording… It doesn't matter who I was; I probably lived a long time ago, and I am now just a voice someone added to the audio-visual records. What is essential is the recollection of events that lead to the current state. So, a little history needs to be…
March 08, 2024
Flash Fiction Benoit

Some Enchanted Evening

It was a rugby tackle with tears: Chrissy burst in, sobbing and babbling, hugging James. Her face was all wet, eyes wild. What…? My parents split up, Dad has moved in with his boyfriend and I cannot join them. I am shut out. I have lost my dad. Torrent of…
March 08, 2024
Horror Stories Marvel Chukwudi Pephel

In The Hands Of My Legs

The car pulled up in front of the large salon. The neon sign, that sexy broad thing, on the salon'sroof read "Mr. Gil's All-night Salon". The exhaust pipe of the car was pumping solid smoke, theswirls moving from the car and towards the salon.…
March 07, 2024
Mystery Stories Vanessa Leigh Giles

Casualty of Love in the Time of Coronavirus

Chapter 1 Until Death do us Part ‘Ring, ring!’. I answered the telephone and asked, “Hello, good evening. Who’s this? “Hello.” This is Dr. Smith from Red Cross hospital. “Is this Mr. Locke, John?”, he asked, hesitantly scratching his bald head. “Yes, doctor.…
March 07, 2024
Crime Stories Robert Pook

Bar Room Trigger

Another return journey on footpaths so familiar. He strides across each crack in each paving stone. Regular loose drain covers sidestepped. Mapping long ago mapped in Richard’s desolate mind. His pace hastened by the sight of the oncoming storm. Quickening…
March 04, 2024
Horror Stories Ano Chinemerem

Sanctity

Where should I begin? I could begin by telling you about this comely boy, whom every notable person around the streets agrees his smile could charm the bills off one. Between one smile, there was his goodness, his dreams and humanity—a little far ahead?— but…
March 04, 2024
Flash Fiction Emanuel Diaz

Et Mortui Partium

As Rafael stepped out into the rain, it wasn't the ordinary drops that fell from the sky. Instead, it was a storm of souls, each one taking the form of shimmering jewelry as it cascaded toward the ground. Rubies, diamonds, and sapphires twinkled amidst the…
February 29, 2024
Poetry Jing Li Ava

London

‘Am I in London?’ "I am." Where is Elizabeth? Happy living story All of your chapter Bounlance joy Please my heart Power hand Wise mind Our baby Vow vow Love all love Miss I miss Endless wonder Bring us together Love all love Miss I miss For everything My…
February 29, 2024
Flash Fiction Rob Pook

Life Sentence of The Smith

Born nine months after his country won the World Cup.A child prodigy.Cast off at age twenty-four.Husband, father, emigree, away on the other side of the world.The blue-collar life.The dreams of success.The search for fulfillment.The long years of empty…
February 29, 2024
Mystery Stories Joshua Lowther

The Operator

Jason looked over to his right, his eyes barely able to focus themselves on the subject of his attention. His neck ached terribly from the strenuous movement. He was tired. The captain’s gaze came to rest on the rookie sonar operator sitting tense at his…
February 29, 2024
Flash Fiction Salvatore Difalco

The Chute

At dusk, we left our unit with a soft pink bundle. I carried it through the wet streets and into the black woods. I said I’d take it all the way, the bundle, but that we had to drop it in together. My wife’s green eyes flashed. “Don’t make me do that.” I…

“Ready, set, hike!”

The hiker tossed the football between his legs to the quarterback. His receivers were frantically scrambling for a clear overhead pass — tall defenders blocked their view. A wide-open receiver immediately caught his attention. He threw the football. Too late. A towering freckled-face figure came straight on to the receiver. Stunned, the receiver fell backward from the painful force.

“That’s a passing interference Jimmy. What the hell are you doing?” the coach screamed.

Peter clutched the dirt in his hands as he groaned on the grass field.

Jimmy ignored the coach. “Is mommy not here to save you Peter?” he said mockingly. Boys surrounding them snickered at Peter’s tormented face.

“Shut up Jimmy or else I’ll — “Peter said.

Jimmy interrupted him. “Or else you’ll what?”

“Or else I’ll go tell your father about those cigars you’ve been sneaking into school yesterday”, Peter said threateningly.

Jimmy was taken aback by such a response.

“Peter, Jimmy get over here now!!” the coach barked.

But Peter had enough of this. For the past seven years he was tired of getting shoved around by Jimmy. “Oh Jimmy,” Peter said with distaste. “You know I always see you across the street from your house. You getting beat up by your abusive old dad.”

The rousing teammates grew quiet. Peter had spilled the secret about his father. No one knew about Jimmy’s abusive father. Not even his friends.

Jimmy clenched his fists, simmering with rage. “I’m gonna beat the shit outta you Peter!” Jimmy shouted. The two boys grunted as they threw punches at each other. He grabbed Peter’s collar—the way his father always did —and threw him down onto the floor. Meanwhile, the rest of the players huddled around them, eager to see some fist-throwing action.

The coach stormed into the scene and grabbed the two boys by the scruff of their necks; both were bruised up with bloody noses. “I’ve had it with you two. I’m not gonna deal with this type of behavior in our final week. Both of you, get off my team.” the coach growled. Both boys looked down with their shoulders slumped.

After arriving home, Jimmy opened the door and saw the tension in the living room: his mother sitting in a chair with a blank face. Next to her was his father, clutching a beer bottle and staring at a photo on the table. It was a picture of him holding a bag of white powder behind the school building.

His dad looked at him with a disgusted look.  “Is this what I expect from you Jimmy? What the hell is your problem?”

“Who sent these photos?” Jimmy muttered.

“I don’t care who sent these photos!” he roared. Jimmy’s heart sank—this was payback from Peter.

He looked again at his mom — she had a black eye with bruises on her face. His father had thrown a violent fit minutes ago. “I lose my job today and this happens. Why can’t you and your mother act normal for once,” Jimmy’s father grumbled. “I’m sick of dealing with this family’s problems. Get your mother and get out of my house!”  He got up from his chair and flipped the dining table over. Bits of glass and china flew all across the room. Jimmy’s mother desperately tried to stop him by grabbing his arms, but he effortlessly knocked her in the head with a bottle. She fell to the floor unconscious. “Grab her and get out!”

Sensing the danger that was coming, he stepped back. “I’m calling the police.”

His father laughed it off, as he yanked the landline off from the countertop. “No you won’t. If I’m not here who’s going to take care of you and your mom?”

“I’ll find a way, after you get sent to jail for treating us like crap.”

“Go ahead.”

Instinctively, he charged himself at his father. Swinging his fists, Jimmy’s father landed a blow on his stomach. Jimmy felt the air escape his breath but he continued to wrestle his father. With his remaining strength, he tackled him into the wall. A loud thud knocked his father’s senses and he fell to the ground.  Quickly tucking an arm under his father’s neck, he locked in and pulled as hard as he could. His father thrashed wildly as he lost air. Jimmy held on, his head searing with rage at the thought of his helpless mother. The sound of his father’s raspy voice echoed the room: “F-finish me..and you’ll be the one in jail. For life…” Jimmy’s mind was still racing from all the stimulus.

Coming to his senses, he released his grip and his father’s body went slump. Jimmy abruptly fell to the floor and stared at his hands and then at his father’s body. Was his father dead? He leaned over to check the pulses of his parents. Nothing from his father. A faint beat came from her mother—she was alive. Jimmy was swept with the realization that he had just taken someone’s life away. He clutched his head as he felt this weird wave of adrenaline through his body Never had he felt such a rush to the brain. Was it the drugs he had inhaled yesterday? He shook his mother to awake her, but to no response.  He was just like his father.

End

 

Bio: Nicholas is a writer who enjoys wrapping himself in ink, paper, and fiction. If he is not writing, he is either grabbing his hands on the next bestselling novel or training for his upcoming marathon.

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