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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…

Three hours… Three hours had passed, and Tony was becoming increasingly anxious.

"HEYY!"  His voice rang out through the valley.

"HHEEYYYYYYY!?"  It was pointless, and Tony knew it.

The only signs of life were the stars, and as beautiful as they were, those glistening balls of gas offered no solution to his situation.

As he lay there, in a tangled mess of rubber, and scrap metal, he could not help but laugh; his parents were right, he had been the cause of his own demise.

 

The turning point of Tony’s life had began less than twelve months ago, when an impending realization had occurred, after suffering a debilitating injury.  Spending six months essentially sedentary, excluding the frequent trips to the hospital.  Months spent lying in his bed, sprawled on the couch, or slumped on the floor had taken their toll on his mental state.  Tony figured he was just going through a rough patch; however, his General Practitioner disagreed, slipping a wad of prescription pads in his hand as he ushered Tony and his crutches out of his office.

 

“What is wrong with me?” He wondered.
“Why is this happening to me?” Anxious thoughts jostling about, which he seemed to have all but lost control of.  It was a clear Tuesday afternoon in late April, the sun cast long dark shadows across the concrete jungle.  The light piercing Tony’s eyes through the spaces between the buildings brought back fond memories of family camping trips, playing flashlight tag, and the sweet crackle of a perfectly roasted marshmallow.  Tony had paused in an opening next to a used car dealership, reminiscing of simpler times.

BEEEP BEEEEP
“Woodstock was 35 years ago ya hippie!” An obscenity yelled from a passing car quickly brought him back to reality.  There would be no more family camping trips, and things in life were becoming increasingly complicated by the day.

 

Glancing down at his watch, Tony figured he had about thirty minutes of daylight left.  Quickly doing the math in his head, he set off toward the chemist at a pace he felt he had not travelled at in many months.  I’m going to open her up, see what these babies can do! He thought, laughing at the quote from one of his favourite movies.  As he neared the chemist, his heart skipped a beat as he contemplated what kind of drugs are they giving me today?

“Hi there, I have these scripts I need filled please.”  The lady behind the counter approached cautiously, inspecting every inch of his person,
“Certainly young man, and do you have some form of photo identification on you?”  Her pitch seemed to waver as she spoke,
“I do.” He quickly replied,
“Could I see it then?”
“Why do you need to see my ID?  My name is written on all four of those scripts.” It had been a long day, and Tony just wanted to be back home, resting his leg.

The lady behind the counter seemed puzzled, but persisted with her request,
“How on earth are we supposed to know that the name on the scripts matches your name? You could have just nabbed these from someone on the street, God knows what people like you would do to get their hands on these meds.”  She spat back with a stare that pierced Tony like a needle through a nub of warm cheese.  
“Okay… Lady… Maybe next time try speaking in full sentences from the beginning, and we can avoid the embarrassment of you losing it like 2007 Brittney Spears.” Smirking as he handed the chemist clerk his drivers license.
“Take a seat Mr.… Benton” Glancing down at the scripts for a name, “we’ll call you when they’re ready.”

As he slumped into the plastic sofa, a sinking feeling came over him; he knew that he would be waiting for a while.

 

Tony had always been involved in extreme sports, not letting a day of health go by without pushing his limits.  Most recently he had been all engrossed by Downhill Mountain biking.  The idea of a man on a two-wheeled horse, traversing the nooks and crannies of a mountainside with immense speed appealed to his adventurous side.  The images of his first and only trip on his new bike flashed through his mind; it was at that point he knew he would have to overcome the mountain that stole the last nine months of his life.

 

Everybody he spoke to said that he was crazy, that he had finally gone and lost his marbles.

 

Ring Ring
Answering his phone without a thought to check who was on the other end, he was assaulted with a familiar voice,

“Now listen here Tone.” A name that only one person had ever called him.
“I hear you’re in a bit of a bad way.  Nine months trapped inside a dusty old house’ll do that to a bloke, y’ know.”  Uncle Joe was the self-proclaimed family psychiatrist, graduating from the University of Uncle Joe, with a Bachelor of life in 2003.
“He’s just like his father was at that age…  Young, dumb and full of completely stupid ideas… He’s gonna get himself killed that boy.”  He heard Aunt Rita chime in from the background.  
“Listen Joe, this isn’t something that I am considering doing, or something that I might do if the weather permits.  This is something that, if I don’t do it, I may not ever be myself again.  I know that you, Rita, hell even Mum ‘n Dad think I’m crazy.  But I have a conviction that a life lived in fear is a life half lived, and that is not how I want to spend my days on this Earth.” There was silence.

“Tone.”

“Tone!  Ya still there?” 
“Yes, Joe, what? Clenching his eyes to stem the impending onslaught of tears.

“Your Mother, your Father, they said if you ever answered our call, to tell you they love you.” Tony couldn’t hold the floodgates any longer, and tears burst forth.  “They are scared that you are turning into your own judge, jury, and executioner.  Don’t make the same mistakes that your Father did.”  Echoed silence rang out over the phone line.
“You’ll see Uncle…”

CLICK

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End

Lachlan is a budding young writer, who's biggest struggle is finding time to put pen to paper. Spending his time studying, working, or out and about Brisbane, Australia.  Still relatively new to the writing game, we look forward to future instalments.

 

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