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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…

Inside her front door, Catherine reached into her pocket and removed a miniature jade Buddha. Wealthy enough to buy a boxcar of trinkets, she couldn’t fathom why she’d stolen it from Chan’s China Shop. She’d never done anything crazy in her life, and she was amazed one of the Chan’s hadn’t caught her. Leaning against the door, she turned the figurine over then was startled by the doorbell.

The downstairs maid rounded the kitchen corner.

“I’ll get it, Marta,” Catherine said. She signed for a vase filled with a large bouquet. She placed the flowers on the foyer table, excitement saturating her voice. “These are lovely, aren’t they Marta? Gerald hasn’t sent me flowers in simply ages.”

Catherine, smiling broader than she had in some time, read the card silently: I saw what you took from Chan’s China Shop.

Her smile evaporated.

**

That night Gerald put his briefcase in the foyer. “Marta,” he called. “Where’s Catherine?”

Marta hustled toward him, nodding respectfully to the man of the house. “Miss Catherine is in her bedroom. She has a terrible migraine.”

“Well, of course she does,” Gerald said, disapproval marring his features. He nodded toward the table. “Where did those come from?”

Marta’s eyes widened.

**

Two days had passed since the flowers were delivered. Now Gerald and Catherine sat at their favorite table at Chan’s Chinese Palace, owned by the same proprietors as Chan’s China Shop. Catherine thought they were there to enjoy a meal and settle some of their differences, but Gerald had other ideas. He hadn’t said a word since they’d left home, and now his mouth was set in a grim line.

“Why would a stranger send you flowers?”

“I don’t know, Gerald, but if you didn’t send them then maybe I have a secret admirer. God knows I could use a little attention now and again.”

Gerald put his fork full of Moo Shu Pork down and glared. “So that’s what this is about – a pathetic bid for attention. Honestly, Catherine, you should be ashamed.”

Catherine’s eyes misted. She pushed her plate away. “Do you love me, Gerald?”

“What?”

“I said do you love me?”

“What brought that on?” Gerald shook his head. “If you’re not going to finish your meal, at least eat your fortune cookie.” He pushed the tray holding two cookies toward her. “Maybe the sugar will do you good.”

Catherine sniffed. She knew by the tone of Gerald’s voice the conversation was over. She sighed and reached for a cookie. While she opened it, she finally admitted to herself that he’d only married her because of her money.

Thoughts elsewhere, she pulled the paper out of the cookie. What she read caused the color to drain from her face: Your life is in danger. Say nothing to anyone.

Catherine felt faint, but she had the wherewithal to stuff the fortune into her pocket before reaching for her water glass. As she drank, she searched the faces of the other diners. Her eyes scanned past the hostess and darted back. Mama Chan, face grim, stared directly at Catherine.

Oh God! Catherine’s eyes darted wildly as she thought. She knows I took the Buddha!

“I, uh, I feel a migraine coming on, Gerald,” Catherine said. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to go home now.”

“Of course you would, dear,” he said, jaw tight.

**

On Monday, Catherine took the unexpected package addressed to her into her room. She smiled when she saw that there were several Buddha miniatures in the box, each a different color. She took them out to examine before she realized that along with the figurines was a single sheet of paper bearing a large Chinese symbol. In case Catherine didn’t know what the symbol meant, someone had been thoughtful enough to have drawn a hangman’s noose on the paper. She didn’t make a sound as she fainted to the floor.

**

“I’m so sorry Mr. Belmont. I called many times and left messages, but you didn’t call back,” Marta said to Gerald when he returned from his business trip Wednesday evening. In a rush, she continued, “Miss Catherine fell and hit her head. The doctor said she’s in a coma. I’m so sorry.”

Gerald’s eyes darted around the room. “What? Where is she?”

“An ambulance came and took her to the hospital. The doctor called to say you should come quickly; he said it doesn’t look good.”

“Well, what happened? Why’d she fall?”

“I don’t know,” Marta said as she wrung her hands. “She got a package, took it upstairs, then I heard a thud. I ran up and found Miss Catherine on the floor with blood on her head.” Marta sniffed, took a tissue from her apron and dabbed her eyes. “You should go to the hospital now, Mr. Belmont. Miss Catherine needs you.”

Gerald turned and headed for the door.

Last week, he’d been surprised when Mama Chan called his office saying she had photographs of Catherine stealing the Buddha. With the Chan family’s reputation for crime – from selling knock-off handbags to cracking heads for non-payment of loans – Gerald was certain Mama Chan was planning to add extortion to her resume. Always a fast thinker, he came up with a plan and arranged a business deal with her that would be lucrative for them both.

So, Gerald thought as he got into his car now and started the engine, I’ll have to give the Chan family a nice bonus when this is all over … on the condition one of them arranges for Catherine to end up in the morgue.

He pulled out of the garage and smiled.

 

 

Bio:

April Winters hopes to help people forget their troubles through her stories, even if it’s only for a little while. Her other works can be read at The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, Linguistic Erosion, The Short Humour Site, and here at Short-Story.Me.

 

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