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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…

Saturday night was cold and wet.  Mike Joseph walked cautiously down Norris Street on his way to the Whitman Park Field, a large green space inside the depressed neighborhood.  Propositioned twice by street walkers, he kept moving while shifting his head from side to side looking for possible trouble.  He hoped that Diego was not walking the same streets that night.  The Puerto Rican drug dealer had recently accused Joseph of trying to short him on a sale of some Fentanyl (“China girl” on the street).  Joseph barely avoided being stabbed by the irate street dealer the last time he was in the neighborhood.    

 

Whitman Park Field seemed to be abandoned.  But out of the shadows, Joseph could hear the voice of the man he knew only as “Heavy L”.  

 

“You got the 357s?”  The large, heavy set drug dealer used a common street reference for Vicodin, referring to the “357” code printed on the tablets. 

 

Joseph cautiously looked around.  At 5 ft. 6 inches and 144 lbs., Joseph was no match for the much larger man. 

 

“Yeah, I got it.” 

 

“Good.  Show me.”

 

Joseph hesitated.   “Show me the cash man.”   The young medical technician was nervous. 

 

Heavy L glared back.  “What the fuck, you don’t trust me?”

 

Joseph looked around again.  No one else appeared to be in the park.  “Just show me that you have the cash.”

    

Heavy L continued to glare.  “You better not be planning to punk shithead….”

 

The street dealer pulled an envelope out from his back pocket and showed Joseph a large

stack of $20 bills.  “You want to count it?”

 

Joseph shook his head and he continued to nervously look around.  “Nah, I trust you.”

 

“Like shit you do.  What’s with all the fucking head shifting?  Looking for someone?”

 

“No man,” replied Joseph.  “Just making sure we are alone.”

 

“Show me the fluff.  You ain’t getting shit until I see

it.”

 

Joseph nodded as he pulled a plastic bottle from his backpack that contained a large number of white oval pills.

 

“1500. Top notch stuff.  Direct from the manufacturer.”

 

Heavy L took the bottle and opened it. 

    

“The cash….”  Joseph shifted from side to side as he looked around.   Come on, he thought.  Just give me the fucking cash.

 

“What you looking for?  You got someone here with you?”  Heavy L was getting agitated by Joseph’s nervous demeanor.

 

“No.”

 

The heavy set drug dealer started to flinch as he backed away from Joseph.  “You with the cops?  What you up to motherfucker….”

 

“Hey, calm down.”

 

The drug dealer dropped the bottle and quickly pulled a Glock 9 mm out from the waistband of his pants.  “You’re a cop motherfucker!!!”

 

“No I ain’t.  Calm down.”  But as he spoke, Joseph pulled his own gun from the back of his pants.  Things were heating up fast.

     

Heavy L didn’t wait for things to calm down.  He had learned from his past drug dealing that it’s better to shoot first and ask questions later.  Without any hesitation, he emptied 3 bullets into the chest of the young medical technician.   Joseph gazed at the drug dealer with a puzzled look before ultimately falling limp on the ground.  A red stain slowly gathered around his body. 

 

“Fuck you.”  And with that, Heavy L grabbed the plastic bottle and ran out of the park.  It was a profitable night for the heavy set hood.  Nearly $10,000 in Vicodin for just the cost of 3 bullets.  A sweet deal.

 

                                                                 Epilogue

The funeral for Mike Joseph was well attended.  His family cried.  His girlfriend was distraught.  And no one really understood why he had died. 

 

The Camden police suspected that it was drug related.  A medical technician killed late at night in an area known for prostitution and drugs.  The connection seemed clear.  But the Roosevelt Medical claimed that no drugs were missing from their dispensary and the police didn’t press the issue.  Perhaps the medical center just wanted to avoid the bad press that their drug control at the hospital was weak.  But none of this changed the story.  Another young black man was dead in Camden, NJ and no one was surprised by that. 

 

The End

 

Author’s Bio:   Tom Schmidt is a Chemical Engineer working in medical diagnostics in upstate New York.  He enjoys creative writing and has been previously published on a variety of electronic short story sites such as www.short-story.me, www.fartherstars.com, www.overmydeadbody.com and www.short-humour.org.uk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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