-The best stories on the web-
Read or link to over 1000 stories listed under Stories to the left.
Submit your short stories for review as a Word document attached to an email to: Read@Short-Story.Me

Latest Stories

April 29, 2025
Fantasy Stories Chris Turner-Neal

The Gorgon’s Climb

I am the only one of us who calls it rape. Stheno, when she must mention it, says “our bad luck;” Medusa shrugs and says “gods don’t have to ask.” And I say but they should and she says but they don’t and Stheno says this attitude doesn’t help, and she’s…
April 29, 2025
Poetry Riya Gulati

Poem Sending A Strong Message To Avert Dowry Deaths

I am going to share a story which will tell you why one should never give dowry(?) It was a rainy day in the month of May, A twenty-four-year-old girl who had a heart of a pearl, And was her parent’s love- was unfortunately burnt on the stove! Six months ago,…
April 29, 2025
General Stories Jon Moray

And In Cursive Also

Korwin was wrapping up his duties at the Senior Living Facility, and his last stop was Sal, a ninety-five-year-old relic from the 1st half of the last century. Sal was listening to the ballgame on his AM/FM transistor radio he had owned for fifty years. "I…
April 29, 2025
Flash Fiction Riya Gulati

An Adventurous And Petrifying Visit To The Dreamland

It was a quiet December afternoon, the kind where snow settled like silence over the town of Fairydom. In this hushed world lived Leah, a gentle and thoughtful girl with a head full of dreams and a heart full of hope. One day, fate, or so it seemed, offered…
April 29, 2025
Horror Stories Steven Bruce

The Unwoven

Tom Matheson never believed in conspiracy theories. But after the layoffs, after Dana stopped returning his calls, after the noise of the world grew too loud, his life dissolved into a numbing routine of late nights and endless scrolling through anonymous…
April 29, 2025
Science Fiction Stories Ocelotlzin

The Last Voyage Of The Eternal Horizon

Space date 4.00.20.338.70 Log 5456.8974.2358-7 Location. Sagittarius Constellation Spaceship. “Eternal Horizon” Type. War spaceship Mission. Classified. Lt First Class Dorian Manteaus. Navigator “Colonel, we are receiving some bizarre signals in our radar…
April 29, 2025
Poetry Riya Gulati

Promoting Clean Sport And Fair Play

It’s a story of a world-class athlete, who trained day and night to fairly win and compete. He was invincible and unstoppable, And lead a disciplined life that was indeed irresistible. He would be seen 24*7 practicing in the field. Undeniably, it was assured…
April 29, 2025
General Stories Nelly Shulman

What Goes Around Comes Around

A crystal ball emanated a rainbow of colors, and Mr. Grenville winced. “Does it really work?” he asked dryly, “or do you just keep it here for the gullible visitors, like the rest of your magic act?” The young woman sprawled on the velvet couch—marked with…
April 10, 2025
Flash Fiction amishra

Code Black

"A horrific past is echoing again. Somewhere, a horrific truth had been buried and forgotten. A truth so vitriolic, that it would dissolve the guts of even a strong-minded, seasoned surgeon. Abhyuday Sharma had no clue about any of this before he joined New…
April 10, 2025
General Stories amishra

I Love The Way You Smile

Panjim, Goa, comes alive as the sun dips below the horizon, casting a golden glow over the Mandovi river. The narrow streets hum the rhythm of night at the characteristic laid-back tempo of the city. Tucked along a bustling lane near the riverfront sits The…
April 10, 2025
Flash Fiction yuan changming

Autumn Tiger

Walking back to my hotel from Yasi, where I had my three meals every day, I noticed several ads for rent, which caused me to reflect on my awkward situation. As her mother could be dying at home any time after two strokes in a run, Hua had moved to Shangyite…
April 10, 2025
General Stories Markus J

The Border Crossing

"Passports please" demanded the border guard, to the Western couple. They nervously handed over their lives. Two military men flanked the guard .Resting in their hands, machine guns, locked and loaded. Both men looked into space with a deadpan stare. Thinking…

From: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

To: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Re: Reduced Sentence for Murder

 

Dear Neal,

 

Thank you for taking the time to work with the police recently.

 

Before I begin, I need to make it clear this message will auto delete 5 minutes from opening or if you attempt to save it. So read carefully.

 

Over the past 3 months you have been working with Detective Pater, from Metro Police. You recorded a series of interviews to aid us in our investigations. And for your generous help with our inquiries you have been promised time off your sentence.

 

The twenty year sentence you received for the rape and murder of Sharon Glass was judged by the courts as sufficient. So, with good behaviour, you’d be out in ten. But once that steel door slammed shut on your first night inside your claustrophobia told you even 10 years in that hell would kill you. So you cut a deal. Confess to 2 unsolved murders and your sentence would be halved and then halved again - pretty sweet, out in two and a half years for the rape and murder of three young girls.

 

Detective Pater came out and went through everything with you. To discover what happened to poor Cindy Russell and Catherine Vine. Recording the interviews of what you had to say. You started coy, unsure how it would play out. The detective won your confidence though. To sign the immunity papers, he gave you that beautiful onyx fountain pen you loved so much and after that you were singing like a bird. Singing for your freedom.

 

“Singing” couldn’t be further from the truth though, could it? The degraded details you revealed on how and where you carried out the 2 unsolved murders feature some horrifically accurate descriptions. I didn’t know you could “slip” while strangling someone and crush their wind-pipe. Or how anyone could rape the dying Miss Russell as “the life went out of her eyes”.

 

 

I say interviews but they have become your confessions. The recordings leave no question to your guilt and confirm, beyond any reasonable doubt, you committed the other two murders. And how heinously you committed them. However, I did laugh during the last interview when you said “I feel like the truth has set me free”.

 

Now, though, it is time for my confessions. Detective Pater is no more a member of the police than you will be a free man. When he came to see you that first time you didn’t check to see if he was from Metro Police, did you? What you can now do is check the prison register - you have been visited many times over the last 3 months by David Paris. “Friend of the Family”.

 

It is my pleasure to reveal the man who conned you was the worst kind of con. A cheap, second-rate actor who I paid off in rye. It’s a crime to impersonate a police officer so I’ll spare you his personal details. But he’ll go back to his own, private hell while you’ll remain in yours. Forever.

 

You can rest easy, the evidence we collected is inadmissible in court so the police will not be receiving copies of your confessions. I am keeping those to drag myself back into darkness whenever my mood brightens. Instead the police will receive a tip-off telling them where to find the bodies of the missing girls. Amongst the orgy of horror you left will be the onyx fountain pen you admired so much. With your unmistakable finger prints.

 

Soon your life sentence will mean life. All that now awaits you is an eternity so ugly, lost and lonely in that tiny steel box you’d be better off just curling up and using your bed sheet as an eternal gag.

 

Do not worry. You are not alone. For the last 4 years I have always had hope my daughter Cindy would be found alive. From your description, I visited her mangled, decayed corpse 5 days ago. Unable to touch her, bury her or bless her, instead of flowers, all I could do was leave that onyx pen. What I saw will be my steel box for the rest of my days.

 

Forever together,

 

Conrad Russell

Father

 

 

My name is Thom Goddard and I am a writer living in High Roding, Essex, England. I previously wrote for the BBC and other television companies. This is my first crime flash fiction.

 

 

0
0
0
s2sdefault

Donate a little?

Use PayPal to support our efforts:

Amount

Genre Poll

Your Favorite Genre?

Sign Up for info from Short-Story.Me!

Stories Tips And Advice