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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…

Eight-year-old Josh stares in the mirror. He wears Transformer pajamas, the water is running, and his toothbrush is untouched. He pushes his nose up and puffs his cheeks out. Giggles erupt. Josh likes to make goofy faces at his reflection; he does this every time his mother, Jean, says to brush his teeth. She used to yell about it, but he’s grown devious. Now he doesn’t leave the water running too long, he remembers to wet his toothbrush, and he squishes the toothpaste tube in a different spot so it looks as if he’s actually put some on his toothbrush.

 

After Josh leaves the bathroom, Tricia comes in and closes the door. She’ll be thirteen next month, but she’s already hit her ugly duckling stage. At least that’s what Jean calls it. She says it’s a natural thing all girls go through. Tricia knows that’s a lie; her older sister, Kelli, has never looked ugly or awkward or disgusting - ever. Tricia stands before the mirror now, staring at her sullen face. She opens her mouth and exposes shiny metal braces. The glasses she wears dwarf her face, but she wanted them because “they’re just like Mom’s.” Then Tricia looks down at her legs. A sob erupts. She jerks her head toward her reflection. “Four-eyed, brace-faced, bird legs,” she says, voice filled with contempt. This isn’t the first time she’s repeated the names her classmates call her while she stares at herself, feeling unadulterated revulsion for her appearance. From the counter, she yanks the orthodontic headgear the dentist said she must wear nightly and tosses it into a drawer. Kelli tries to hurry Tricia out of the bathroom, but the younger girl glares at the closed door and yells, “I’ll be out in a minute!

 

A few minutes later when Tricia opens the door, Kelli whispers, “It’s about time, dumb ass.” She sails into the bathroom and closes the door. When she turns to the mirror, the sour expression she wears disappears. She poses this way and that. Obviously pleased with what she sees, she smiles. Pulling her long hair into a ponytail, she reaches for the shower cap. When she drops her robe and turns sideways, a glint of fear changes her expression. She rubs her hand over her still-flat stomach, and bites her lip. Seconds later, she hunches over the toilet and deposits her breakfast. Jean knocks on the door, asking if “Kelli Belly” is okay. Kelli wipes her mouth; she lies, saying it’s just a touch of stomach flu.

 

After Kelli showers and leaves the bathroom, Jean enters. She heaves a loud sigh, drops her robe, and steps on the scale she’s scooted away from the wall. Her second sigh is louder. She puts the robe back on and kicks the scale back into the corner where it belongs. Her brow is furrowed when she glares at herself in the mirror. She’s taken to heart her husband’s teasing “pudgy” comment from last night. A tap tap tap comes at the door, and he pops his head in, saying, “Hey Babe …”

 

Jean, who usually calls her husband sweetie or honey, verbally backs Don away from the door. “Babe? Babe? Like that big fat pig in that movie? Is that what you’re trying to say?” She slams the door in his face then picks up the hair dryer and looks as if she’s about to throw it at the mirror.

 

In the bedroom, Don stares in the dresser mirror. He wears a bewildered expression. Aloud he says, “Women! I swear to God I’ll never figure them out.”

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