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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…

Despite checking it only minutes earlier, I looked at the calendar on my laptop again. October 25th, 2014. I sighed. How could I have made such a stupid mistake? I looked down at the watch on my wrist. Black hands hovering over an embedded silver SC showed 4:30. I tried spinning the dial. Nothing. No more turning back now – I went too far. I focused my attention on the sound of my parents’ conversation coming through my bedroom door, waiting for the right moment.

“Bananas, yogurt, oatmeal…”

“Yup.”

“Not the instant kind.”

“I know.”

“Bread, turkey, ham…”

“Yup, yup.”

They would get so fixated on the smallest tasks. Didn’t they realize how much bigger the world is than tonight’s grocery list? I patted the pockets of my jeans. Yes, I still had my father’s keys.

“Carrots, potatoes...”

“All on there.”

“Do you want the chicken strips again?”

I needed to get the timing right, like I did that first time. If my math is right, I’ve lived almost five years since then without any time passing, and yet this night is still fresh in my memory.

“Let’s try something new next week.”

That was it. That’s the last thing my father said before...

“Aaahhh!” My mother shrieked.

The house turned black. My whole neighborhood did. Even now, I think the freak power outage was the luckiest thing that’s ever happened to me. The unluckiest was the damned watch that was around my wrist. Considering how connected the two are, this night was probably packed with enough positive and negative luck for a lifetime.

“Danny, are you okay?” Came my mother’s voice.

“I’m fine,” I answered, climbing out of my bedroom window.

“We’re going to the basement to grab flashlights. You’re still grounded.”

“Okay!”

I hopped down from the window and walked along the side of my house through the brisk air. In front of the black kitchen window that would have normally illuminated my exit strategy sat my father’s navy Explorer. I quickly opened the door and started it up.

If I wasn’t grounded, my father would have allowed me to borrow his car. I felt guilty stealing it, and redoing this night forced me into situation a second time. I couldn’t wait to ditch the watch.

I soon arrived at the carnival where it all began. Things felt very different this time. For one, Jenna is no longer important to me. I tried out a relationship with her but it became clear after some time that things weren’t going to work. Of course, she didn’t know that right now. She would be waiting for me at the cotton candy vendor like she was the first time.

I looked down at my watch. 4:50. I remember that I caught the mage on his way into his tent, so I walked to the only part of the carnival untouched by relentless glowing lights where I found him before. I don’t remember at exactly what time I found him, but it was definitely before 5:00. Out of curiosity, I tried turning the dial back on the watch again. Nope, still busted. My only instructions were to never go back to the time before I got the watch, and I blew it.

“You’re not supposed to have that. I am.” I turned around to see him standing in the same hooded brown robe that he was wearing the first time I met him, with the same yellow eyes looking out at me.

“I was wondering where my Second Chances Watch had disappeared to.” I think he was smiling under his hood.

“I want to return it.”

“Why, young man?”

“I don’t care about second chances. They turned me into a manipulative monster. I’m never happy with where I am or who I’m there with. I can’t accept anything that doesn’t go my way.” My voice started shaking. “I always want to control, control, control. Even if the slightest thing goes wrong, I always turn back time. It’s become a habit now and it’s driving me crazy.”

“Ah, regret, the incurable ailment. How funny it is – after attaining a life that could be free of regret, you go on to regret that you have chosen this life.”

“It’s not about regret. It’s about acceptance. I want to accept whatever happens to me. I want to live with it all.”

“Well then, I regret to inform you that you’ve turned back too far. You can’t return something you haven’t yet bought.”

“I know, I know. I just want to get rid of it.”

He ignored my plea. “There is a failsafe built into the watch. It commenced when you turned back to a time before you were the rightful owner of the watch. Its purpose is to prevent you from journeying back too far.”

“What do you mean? What failsafe?”

“The dial lost its ability to turn backward, but it can turn forward instead. If your previous experiences with time travel have taught you anything…”

Eager to test, I turned the dial forward five minutes. It worked. In an instant, I was standing in front of Jenna at the cotton candy stand where we planned to meet. I was overcome with nostalgia.

Filled with a new energy, I led her by the hand to the ferris wheel where we would have our first kiss. It was stupidly romantic. She would tell me how afraid of heights she was, and I would tell her to close her eyes as the wheel rose. At the peak, soaring above entire carnival, our lips would come together. I don’t like her as much as I used to, but I still wanted to relive that vivid memory. The only thing that stood before me and that moment was the long, boring queue before the ride. I always hated waiting in lines. There’s so much more to life than standing around. My finger lingered on the watch’s silver dial. It would only be a few minutes.

 

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