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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…

Dawn crept slowly over the darkened land of Eirené. The petals and leaves were weighted with glistening tears of vapor. The forest of Twigor was awakening. The belly of a snake slithered smoothly over the foliage, making its way through the trees, its head bobbing to the rhythm of its flickering tongue. It passed into a small clearing, where an immense rock reached over the forest roof. 


The snake’s cold belly brushed over Leora's warm skin, paying no mind to her, and disappeared into a small crack in the rock. Shortly thereafter, Leora’s eyes opened, and she saw Grimmer with his back facing her. It felt as though he had been with them throughout the night. She stared at him in disbelief. It was not a dream, she thought despairingly. She did have dreams, vivid images of things that have not yet come to pass. Her three daughters lay silent, still sleeping in the basket. Without turning around, Grimmer spoke in a warm voice. 


“Today you will feel changed, for in your sleep I have trained you. A mother you now truly are and of mothering you now know enough.”
Leora, feeling at a loss for words, did not reply. Grimmer turned to face her, and grinned menacingly before he walked off, disappearing into the woods.
Leora felt a shiver running down her spine, and were it not for the basket wherein her daughters lay, she would still have thought of it as a dream.
Leora found an unfamiliar change in her thinking. Above all, her thoughts now dwelled on a place to call home. She thought of no better place other than the greatest tree in the forest of Twigor. Old Bark, though it was not among the highest of trees, was monstrous. The old tree had a gnarled trunk measuring forty-four arms in breadth and reached sixty-five arms into the sky. Old bark had a natural platform at the pinnacle of the trunk, where around it grew stalwart branches towering from the edges of the trunk. The branches carried a great weight of twigs and silver leaves. When sunlight was at its highest in the sky, it pierced through the spheroidal opening atop and shone onto the platform.


Leora was pleased to make their home there, and she thought Old Bark would welcome their stay. Old Bark was home to many little creatures, some friendly, and others not so much. In time, Leora learned to contend with these creatures and they learned to fear her scorn.


Time passed and the seasons trickled on. Her daughters grew in stature, knowledge and skill. She named them, Elian, Allenial and Linlith.
Elian was most skilled in the crafting of things; from carving wooden toys, to mining and smelting elements to create magnificent jewels. Allenial

found wonder in the herbs and plants that grew throughout the Burgeoning North. Sometimes she would disappear into the wild in search of places where some rare things grow. She would learn of ointments and herbal remedies to aid against injury or disease. Linlith was not joyful, for she was often ill. It was on Linlith, that Allenial could test her herbal remedies, and more often than not, Allenial would succeed in easing her sister’s pain. 
The future of Linlith was revealed to her in many dreams. This did not bring fear to Linlith’s heart, for she desired this relationship with death, although she could not understand why. Their mother told them that when her time in the north ends, they should leave Twigor and journey to the lands beyond the forest to find their place in the world. Elian was to go east, for she had ever desired to visit the dwarves under the mountain. Allenial desired to go west for she thought she could learn a lot from the elves who practiced alchemy.


In the sixteenth year since the birth of her daughters, there was a celebration in the Old Bark, which had been their home now for many seasons. Old Bark was not as it once was. The old tree was weighted with decorations and crafted items. During those times, song and dance was often a part of their lives. The darkness crept in slowly on this day of celebration, as the sky went blacker than coal and the wind bashed against the towering branches of Old Bark. All the trees were restless, rustling loudly. The three Forelocks, now sixteen years into life, were safe inside the towers of the Old Bark with their mother. That night left all other creatures cowering in their holes and burrows.
It was so that the laughing and feasting stopped as an illness more serious than any other befell Linlith. Allenial by now had a wooden shelf stacked with herbs and exotic remedies that have seldom failed her. Allenial tried remedy after remedy, but it was all in vain. Leora felt an old fear gripping her chest. She became pale and cold. The night felt dark and heavy. The Forelocks huddled around their sister, and their mother remained sitting motionless against a towering branch, clutching her knees to her chin. The night fell silent. In this silence, Grimmer had walked out of the shadows and was now standing over Linlith. Grimmer lay his hand on Linlith’s cheek. Her eyes opened, but were as black as a starless night. Allenial and Elian stood motionless, mesmerized by the presence of Grimmer. Then out of the stillness, Linlith spoke in a slow whisper, 
“My king has come for me, is this true?”
Grimmer took her hand to help her get up. Linlith stood firmly on the ground, feeling all her strength quickly returning. She felt Grimmer’s face with her cold soft hands. His eyes had her spellbound for a moment, then she turned to look upon her mother who sat as if holding a great weight upon her shoulders.
“Mother I am glad, and be glad for my king is here. My heart has found its keeper, and this is he.”
Leora looked up at her child holding Death’s hand. There was a brief silence, as a cool breeze sent dead leaves swirling in the light of the full moon. Finally, Leora began muttering words. 
“Be free my child, for your heart has ever belonged to him.”
She felt a strain in her throat saying those words, and then she became still, feeling herself fall into darkness. Linlith had crossed the veil between life and death and she could follow Grimmer wherever he went. Linlith glanced over her sisters. Then they turned and merged with the shadows.

 

I am a 24 year old aspiring writer. 
I live in Pretoria, South-Africa and I
study english part-time.

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