Alone in his rural house--the one he'd insisted be far away from annoying neighbors--Amir notices the surface of his tea rippling and the teaspoon vibrating against the side of the porcelain cup. He turns toward his picture window. An eighteen-wheeler hauling a single wind turbine blade rolls by. It's odd enough to see any vehicle... Continue Reading →
Idol
Holding the wooden idol in front of himself like a shield, the customer enters the shop. Dangling chimes echo in disharmony when the door hits them. The shop drips from its high ceilings to its floor with religious paraphernalia. At first, the shopkeeper smiles when he recognizes his customer from yesterday. His smile fades when... Continue Reading →
September Resurrection
It really is true. Time does slow down, she thinks. Especially when you’re watching your co-worker choke to death. Sadie sits down on the stony landscaping next to the lagoon and stares at the moon’s reflection in the water. The smell of the fleeting September summer wafts in the air. Maybe it was a mistake... Continue Reading →
Gone Too Far and Gone Too Soon
Click Here for the Audio Version: https://soundcloud.com/fitful-fearful-phantasmal/gone-too-far-and-gone-too-soon-my-original-story "Nobody’s teeny brain understands what I go through! So just stop trying!" It would have been hard for anyone to resist chuckling at Ed Millard--in a patronizing way--or to at least roll their eyes. His outburst resembled one of a spoiled pre-teen stuck in a middle-aged man’s body.... Continue Reading →
Confessions Over Pancakes
Please enjoy an audio version of one of my flash fiction horror stories. And yes, that is my voice reading it. Click the link to listen:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tmA0GN0FcKAk9q60Foy11CNaObAA_sGT/view?usp=sharing
Switch
He knows exactly how it will play out: the adrenaline flooding his bloodstream will dissipate by dawn and leave him lethargic for his 8:00 am Civil Engineering Semester Exam. Daren lays in bed and tries that idiotic technique his fourth-grade teacher made the students do when they got too rowdy: relax each part of the... Continue Reading →
Day One at The Liberty House
Jerry keeps busy. It's the only way to keep his mind off the self-condemnation. When nothing is open in town for Christmas, (including Liberty House or any other place in any town for that matter), Shift Manager Jerry volunteers to train the restaurant's new hire, Wade, who also says he has no holiday plans and... Continue Reading →
What’s Said After a Suicide Attempt
She walks out with him through the automatic doors of the hospital. "It's really good to feel sunshine," he says to her. "Lip service?" "No, I swear. You know I have zero self-control. So, I actually mean it. It feels good to be outside right now." "Zero, huh?" "Ok...so like I've only got 17% self-control."... Continue Reading →
Crossover
The driver is swerving the school bus more than the kid who sits in the front seat had ever noticed on other days. The front-seat kid is nothing like his peers; he is hyper-vigilant. Filling up the back rows--consumed with lewd chatter and earsplitting, rambunctious horseplay--are all the other middle schoolers who ride the 7A... Continue Reading →
To Earth
"Thanks for meeting me out here." Carson loosens his tie. "Between you and me, if I had to hold one more interview in the mausoleum--that's what I call the company boardroom--I'da lost it." The corners of the interviewee's mouth turn up. He says nothing. "Sorry," Carson says, "I was just blowing off a little steam.... Continue Reading →
Susannah Ann and the Alien Man
It seems like a snapshot plucked from a 1980's PSA: a lone man in a beige trench coat had come and sat next to little Susannah Ann Chalmers on the swing set. Mrs. Chalmers doesn't see him approach. Eventually, she looks out her kitchen window (nearly done with the dishes) and runs toward the public... Continue Reading →
Fortunes
You haven't been sitting in his office for more than two seconds before your boss, Crabtrey, says, "I have to fire you, Wes." "Yes. I accept that. I was prepared." Crabtrey shuts a file folder on his desk and plops it into his outbox tray. "Okey doke. So let's not draw this out. No need... Continue Reading →
When The Lion Man Comes
"It's not a lion," the four-year-old whispers in his tribal language. He remembers back to a few months ago when he had spotted something golden along the horizon line where the hot air appeared to vibrate. The boy had screamed Lion! and all the village elders (who are skilled in hunting) went charging into the distance,... Continue Reading →
From a Crack in the Wall (Flash Fiction and Writing Prompt / Writing Challenge!)
He forgot to bring water. Seeing as how amped up he was to start a new jogging routine, being properly prepared had slipped his mind. So, Tam Rogan felt mother nature was mocking him when he spotted a gentle gush of water spilling out of a natural rock wall. He stopped to catch his breath--now... Continue Reading →
Old Man Randall’s Return
“We’re here Mr. Randall. Home sweet home. Do you want me to give you a hand--” “No! Just leave it. My arms aren’t crippled, ya know. I can get it my own damn self.” “‘Course, Sir. My apologies,” the driver says and takes off his Patient Shuttle Service cap to wipe the perspiration from his... Continue Reading →
So Blue
Cheryl says, “What in Sam Hill--” She wipes away the frost on her passenger-side window. “When you’re a beach lover, I guess there’s no keeping you from it!” She gestures towards a man walking along the shoreline that is across the highway. Walter says, “Wouldn’t catch me dead out there. I reckon it’s guys like... Continue Reading →
Retribution
He writes a song for her: Verse 1 Chorus Verse 2 Chorus Bridge Verse 3 Chorus Key Change Chorus X 2 She writes a story for him: Attention-Grabbing Action-Based Opening Cleverly-Woven Exposition Establishing of Character Motivation to Move Story Forward Prose Prose Prose Dialogue Dialogue Dialogue Building of Tension Revealing of Turning Point Resolution Denouement... Continue Reading →
Afraid To Sleep
He is afraid to fall asleep. It seems there is something he forgot That he really needs to do But doesn’t know what it is. It is something the morning won’t allow. He feels that if he stays in the night, here, safe, All would be quiet and calm And there would be no confrontation.... Continue Reading →
A Whisper of the Axe (Dark Flash Fiction)
The old man swings his axe in an arc up over his head and brings it down hard. There is a wet sound when the blade makes contact. Not at all what he was hoping. And it's quieter than expected. He decides to keep at it and lifts the axe for another swing. It is... Continue Reading →
I Would Tell You
I would tell you to come to the forest near the blue mountain, but you’re already there. I would tell you of the strange journey, Via pathways few of us take (or know about). I might have once thought about boots and flashy hiking gear, Of tarps, tents, and lanterns, But what good would they... Continue Reading →
I Drink You Every Night (Dark Flash Fiction)
I hate the life that’s led by mostly everyone. Full of worrying about beauty and labels. Status and ego. Their pursuit of money and ownership of other people. When you work in marketing like I do, sometimes you marvel at our ability to push a product that is nothing more than boiled shit. And I’m... Continue Reading →
Squeezed Dry (Flash Fiction)
(Click Below for the Audio Version) https://soundcloud.com/fitful-fearful-phantasmal/squeezed-dry-flash-fiction Where else would we go? We were children of well-to-do fathers with Silicon Valley success stories. Between semesters of our ivy league education, three of my friends and I went backpacking through Europe. I couldn’t tell you why exactly. Now, decades later, I think about what I wanted... Continue Reading →
The Breaks
I keep it on a hook in the back of the coat closet, My green umbrella. But there's nothing but sun to see, (A red-orange streak cuts across the dusk), No use to carry it with me. It's nice to know I have it, though. Come for a walk outside, you say, On account of... Continue Reading →
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