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Latest Stories

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…
February 29, 2024
Fantasy Stories Marvel Chukwudi Pephel

Tragopolis

In the heart of a vast and mysterious forest lay a city like no other – Tragopolis. It was a fablesque city hidden from the prying eyes of the outside world. It was a place where secrets bloomed as bountifully as the surrounding flora. It was a city where…
February 15, 2024
Science Fiction Stories Jasnoor

Ethan Sheldon's Death

<< Ethan Sheldon’s [Deceased] Brain Autopsy >> Damn, this one's going to be a long one—an all-nighter mopping the floors in this creepy ass place. There is no music or sound except the splashing noise of cleaning fluid. I'm in a hallway; there's nothing to…

Eleanor heard the footsteps. Instinctively she clutched at the collar of her robe, pulling the already constricting, conservative cut of the cloth even tighter around her. But as she listened to the footsteps, growing ever closer in the blackness outside her door, she relaxed her grip.

She could tell that the steps coming up the path were tentative over the craters and outcroppings; almost shy and submissive in their gait and footfall.  The person coming her way was more of a lost soul than any kind of threat.

And besides the villagers knew better than to send an undesirable her way.

Eleanor moved through the light and shadows of the sitting room; candlelight and familiarity guiding her through a well appointed  house and to the thick oaken door. She reached out slowly and, with hand shaking ever so slightly, slid the latch on the peep hole.

She smiled a tight smile as she laid eyes on her visitor.

Young but not too young. Very much a May to her very late December. His sensitive eyes, shoulder length hair and a ragged waistcoat over a animal hide tunic made him as an intellectual in Eleanor's mind.  A former teacher, perhaps an author? There were not many of those around anymore. He looked like he was lost and in need of a pause in his journey.

Eleanor opened the door, smiled and waved him inside.

He was Henry, a man of some culture and taste. Eleanor discovered that when, after setting down a simple meal, he was quick to pull out her chair. It was an act that had long since become an oddity to those who could remember when such niceties were common place.

They talked of good books, the art masters, fine wines of bygone ages and all manner of philosophical and social mores. He had opinions but was open to spirited debate.  As the night wore on, Eleanor was flushed like a school girl at this onslaught of intellect and curiosity from the  stranger.  And she literally melted when he spied a battered guitar in the corner, picked it up and serenaded her with a soft, chord driven rendition of Cat Steven's 'Peace Train'.

The hours wound their way slowly into the night. At one point Henry stretched and yawned. Eleanor tensed. She knew what the stranger's gesture  was a prelude to. She had a spare room. But she was nonchalant in offering him her company in her bed.

They walked together to the bedroom.  Silent. Caught up in whatever was to come. Eleanor opened the door to a room that would have been considered elegant in another age.  Reproductions of paintings by the masters. Colorful drapery hanging from every available inch of wall and  ceiling.  All centered by a four poster bed, surrounded at each corner by heavy falling bunting and filled with colorful oversized pillows, layered  satin sheets and  a lovingly overwhelming array of blue, red and gold blankets.

Eleanor turned to face Henry.  She opened her robe and let it fall to the floor. Henry's eyes instantly reflected shock at the horrifying tableau that was Eleanor's body.

Jagged red scars ran in all directions up and down her body. Between the patchwork stitches were discolored welts and layers of tattered tissue that had long ago gone hard and permanent. One breast appeared fairly normal; the other hanging far less perfect with the primitive efforts to save it, incisions that had barely survived gang green but had apparently done the job.

Eleanor had been far enough away from the last bombing of the last war to survive. Physically she was a map of hell. Mentally she got through life by just making do.  Somehow she had survived...And was rewarded with a lifetime of isolation. She had taken lovers. But the novelty of being with men who treated her like a freak inevitably wore off on both sides.

She looked up at Henry. The horror and revulsion she had come to recognize in the men she had encountered since she crawled from a shelter that had not been close to doing the job, stood out almost in base relief. But after a moment his eyes went soft, sympathetic and understanding. Without saying a word, he peeled off his tunic; revealing a body lean and unmarked. Eleanor marveled at the later. He had obviously been young enough to come after the apocalypse and the radiation level had subsided.

Henry took Eleanor in his arms, hugged her tightly and then lay her down on the soft sheets. He was a quiet, considerate lover; touching her ravished body with soft caresses and her soul with tender and prolonged lovemaking.

Finally satiated, they both fell together. Henry managed a good night peck to the cheek before drifting off to sleep with a smile on his face. Eleanor curled into the crook of his arm; a tight smile but a thoughtful one.

She felt like she had felt before coming to the inevitable conclusion that there could be no love for an atom blasted monster. But still....

Inside she giggled at the prospect of Henry staying for a while. Who knows. It just might be forever.  But then reality once again invaded her thoughts. If he was still here in the morning...

She would take off her mask and wig

THE END

 

 

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