-The best stories on the web-
Read or link to over 1000 stories listed under Stories to the left.
Submit your short stories for review as a Word document attached to an email to: Read@Short-Story.Me

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…

Jimbo looked up at the sign, and then at the building itself. It was just as he remembered twenty years ago. Of course, then it had been in San Diego, not in its current Anaheim location. Other than that, judging from the exterior and interior, it was as if he'd stepped back in time.

His heart rate accelerated as he pushed open the front door. And why not? That last visit had changed their lives. The optimist in him said it'd added ten years to their marriage, though the pessimist argued that without it they might still be happy.

He stepped in and found Mary in a booth on the far side of the dining area. Their eyes locked, and she graced him with a smile. Wow, this place must've had a real effect on her. He couldn't remember the last unsolicited smile she'd thrown his way.

"James," she said as he sat down. Not Jimbo, Jimmy, or Jim like early in their marriage. She'd only started calling him that after his affair. She'd sounded so happy on the phone that he thought maybe she was willing to give him another chance. That didn't seem to be the case. Maybe she planned on ordering the burgers with divorce papers.

"Meredith," he answered, playing her little name game.

She ignored it, and her smile grew brighter. "I couldn't believe when I found this place. I knew I had to try it before it disappeared. And no matter what we've been through, you're the only one I wanted to experience it with."

He reached out and took her hand, half-expecting her to cringe. He smiled when she didn't. "That was a good meal, wasn't it?"

She nodded, then laughed. "To tell you the truth, I don't even remember what it tasted like. It could have been the worst food I'd ever had, but it was certainly the best dinner."

"That's for sure," he said as he picked up a menu.

"I hope you don't mind, but I already ordered for us."

"Oh?" There it was. The divorce papers would be here any minute.

"It's just . . . I wanted everything like it was that night. You know?"

He nodded and smiled. "That's what I would have ordered anyway. You think it'll come with the same topping?"

"The waitress didn't bat an eye when I requested it."

Jimbo placed his attention back on the menu. Other than the higher prices--inflation and all that--it looked the same, right down to the Special Order Burger with no extra topping options listed.

Twenty years ago, while in San Diego for their first wedding anniversary, they'd stumbled upon this place. When he'd questioned the waitress about what toppings were available, she'd told him he could have anything his heart desired. He smirked, called her bluff, and ordered a medium-well burger, topped with mayo, bacon, and onions. And instead of lettuce, he asked her to pile it high with $100 bills. She'd nodded and left.

When the food came, there really were $100 bills on the burger. Real ones! They quickly counted and found it came to over $7000. After the waitress assured them it wasn't a joke, they'd paid with one of the bills and left without change, even though the tab came to just over fifteen bucks.

As they waited for their food this time, they made small talk. Jimbo avoided any sort of topic that could turn the conversation sour, and he had a feeling Mary did the same. This might be the last time they ever sat down for a meal together, so might as well make it pleasant.

Jimbo saw the crisp green bills on his burger as the waitress approached. Like their first visit, Mary got the fish and chips, though why she hadn't ordered a burger and made some money of her own, he didn't know.

"Wow, that looks like more than last time," she said as he piled the bills next to his plate. He salivated not just over the aroma of the burger, which smelled fantastic, but also over all that cash. He'd count it later.

Mary broke a piece of fish in two and blew on it. "Still too hot. Go on and try yours so we know if it's good or not."

"I'm sure it is. Smells great." He picked it up and tore into it. Delicious, though there was a bit of a bitter taste underneath. Probably from the money. If that was the result, he'd gladly take it.

"You like it?"

He nodded and motioned it towards her. "Want a bite?"

"No thanks. I'll be lucky if I finish my own."

She reached down for a fry, and he noticed a manila envelope under the mound of food. "What's that?"

"I asked if special orders came with anything other than the burgers. They did, so why not, right?"

There it was. What he'd been dreading this entire time. The divorce papers. So much for this meal rekindling anything.

"What'd you get?" The words felt thick on his tongue.

She gave a little shrug. "Nothing that'll matter to you."

He took another bite of burger and mulled that over. So it wasn't divorce papers. Unless she thought he no longer cared about their marriage.

As Jimbo brought the burger up to his mouth again, his hands went numb, and it spilled into his lap. Before he could figure out what was going on, the numbness spread up his arms and took control of his entire body. He slumped back into his chair and tried to say something, anything, but his mouth wouldn't work.

As calm as could be, Mary dug the envelope out from beneath the fish and fries. She'd done this to him. His condition didn't surprise her, so what other explanation was there?

"Sorry, sweetheart. Your lungs and heart are going to stop working in a minute or two. They promised it'd be painless." She paused. "That's more than you deserve."

She peaked into the envelope and pulled out a card--it looked like a driver's license--and a small scrap of paper. She grabbed her wallet out of her purse and switched the new license with the old. "Should do it," she muttered.

She tossed her old driver's license to the table, and as soon as it plunked down, her appearance changed. Not gradually, but all at once. One second she was Mary, slightly dumpy with streaks of grey running through her dark hair, and the next she was a young, vivacious redhead with luscious bulges in all the right places. He wanted to believe the transformation was all in his mind, a byproduct of whatever drug or poison coursed through his veins, but he knew that wasn't the case.

"I'll be the prime suspect in your murder, so I ordered up a new identity, one that's more than a simple paper trail. They promised it'd transfer anything in my old name, your name, or both our names." She pulled a credit card out and smiled. "Will you look at that? Worked already." Without a glance over to him, she gathered her stuff, along with his stack of cash except for two bills which she left on the table, and walked out. With his back to the door, he couldn't even watch her leave.

As his breathing labored, he caught the eye of the waitress, who smiled and shrugged in a way that said, "What are you going to do?" What are you going to do, indeed, he thought as his heart rate slowed to a stop.

 

BIO: Eric J. Krause pens stories from Orange County, California, just

minutes away from Disneyland. He has a number of stories published

online. You can visit his website at http://ericjkrause.com.

0
0
0
s2sdefault

Donate a little?

Use PayPal to support our efforts:

Amount

Genre Poll

Your Favorite Genre?

Sign Up for info from Short-Story.Me!

Stories Tips And Advice