FEATURED SHORT STORIES
Clumsy
Jackson groaned, arm twitching from having fallen asleep, cursing that he’s somehow slept on his neck wrong. Muttering, he swore he would never again let Jed subject his Saturday mornings to the aftermath that inevitably occurs with just the right mixture of vermouth and mezcal over the course of one evening. Bracing himself for the bright light of day, Jackson attempted to raise his right hand to cover his eyes but couldn’t lift his arms.
Eyes snapping open, he winced and heart racing, began to hyperventilate as he realized he was tied to a wrought iron lawn chair surrounded by pink hydrangeas. Flaky white paint peeled off the chair as he tugged his arms frantically trying to get out of--were those Hermes scarves?! Jackson leaned down to get closer and inspect the material.
Leaves crunched behind him, and Jackson straightened and tried to remember how to breathe. He saw a young woman wearing sky blue Oxfords and bold red lipstick. Jackson waited for her to speak. She sighed quietly, “Just so you know, this is incredibly unusual for me to really meet people like, well, you face-to-face…”
Homeless
They trudged along the overpass, burning their belongings as they went. Limping along with nothing but their children’s hands clutched in their own. The wreckage of satellites torn apart upon entrance back into the atmosphere scattered in sharp, twisted pieces, glinting in the sunlight. Several pieces were still glowing hot, smoking and giving the air a hazy sheen.
He heard children wailing, their tears running in clear tracks, muddying the dirt and soot on their faces. A man pulled a young girl along by the straps of her pink overalls, one of the ribbons holding her hair in pigtails trailing behind her. Her light up shoes scrabbled uselessly against the dirt as she screamed, words lost amongst the cacophony of grief and outrage.
They came from miles around, trudging along towards an unknown destination, just feeling the need to get away. To crawl into whatever shelter they could find further south along the interstate and lick their wounds. There would be no bodies to mourn. No possessions to clutch tight in comfort beyond their own flesh and blood. And some wouldn’t even have that…
Place Your Bets
Stevie gleefully made his way past the whirring slot machines and blinking lights. He was feeling lucky and it took no skill to perch in a chair and insert a coin here, pull a lever there. Utterly boring without a smidge of a real challenge. Cross your fingers for good luck and be done with it.
The poor sots who let themselves get entranced at the machines were easy prey. He scoffed at the foolish women muttering prayers to the godless chrome casino as he made his way towards the tables.
Knocking back his double shot of bourbon, Stevie slid into a plush seat and winked at the dealer. The dealer greeted him with a blank stare. Unfit for customer service that one. Not even a nod to acknowledge an honest gambler’s presence. Stevie glanced over at his fellow gambler three chairs over and rolled his eyes, but only received a suspicious glare from his beady eyed table-mate. The villainous little man looked him over and proceeded to aggressively stack ten chips and push them forward towards the middle of the table…
ALL SHORT STORIES
The Medicine Thief
Sean cursed his luck again that the Commodore had caught him stealing meds for his mother. Overpopulation had made life on the station unbearable and Sean never did well with following the rules for long. Resources were tight, but theft was punishable by death. Strapped into the seat of his capsule, Sean also cursed that the majority had won out to keep people alive in…
Blackout
Sometimes you’re not sure if it’s worth the paycheck. When you come back to yourself on Saturday mornings more often than not you’re covered in splatters of blood and covered head to toe in glitter. And after all the years of doing whatever it is you’re doing, you’ve never gotten a straight answer from the agency about what it is you’re doing. While you’ve gotten particularly good at getting out the bloodstains, it’s nigh impossible to get glitter out of your clothes. It’s gotten to the point that you feel like you’ve become best friends with the plumber you have on call to help you unclog your drains of glitter every two months like clockwork. She never mentions anything about the blood, but maybe she is too polite to ask.
You spend your paychecks on carefully chosen random things and dive into the world of competitive couponing to cover up the suspicious amount of bleach and glitter that makes its way into your Amazon cart every Monday. This weekend you choose to order an incense fountain, bid on some abstract art on eBay, and purchase more construction paper and glue…
Six Rules
Christian had always wanted to be a sailor even though his mother was adamantly against him sailing the galaxy. He was in love with the stars. He wanted to immerse himself in the night sky and felt like their twinkling lights called to him. He wheedled a compromise out of his mother to have his graduation trip be his chance to see…
Simple Favors
In retrospect, offering to get groceries for the old lady next door wasn’t an accident. While the rest of the kids in the neighborhood thought she was crazy, Bailey never understood why. It seemed like something that they had just adopted as the truth even though as far as she could tell the old lady next door had never done anything particularly suspicious. She was definitely someone her parents would consider eccentric with her penchant for adding a gargoyle or two to her roof every May instead of only having them up for Halloween, but the old lady always waved to her when she got home from school from her front porch.
All of eight years old, Bailey had started taking on more responsibility around her house. Her parents were pretty busy and she wanted to help so she volunteered to go to the store to pick up some essentials for her parents. Since there was only really a need for eggs and milk, she was confident she could get everything in one trip but knew she’d have time and energy to spare. She realized she never saw the old lady leave to get groceries but figured she could do something nice for her and asked he if she wanted anything from the store.
The twinkle in the old lady’s eyes as she asked “What do you want in exchange?” did strike Bailey as a little odd but she just shrugged and said she didn’t need anything in particular. She was curious why the old lady seemed surprised…
Selfish
Henry tried not to look into the future anymore. He learned from a young age the cruel reality of life when his own parents tried to take advantage of his ability. At first it started off sweet, a trip to get his favorite candy at the corner bodega while his Dad asked him about what he thought about lotto numbers for next week’s millions jackpot. The bodega cashier Juan Pablo laughing…
11:11
The world erupted in a frenzy at 11.11am. Skittles poured from the sky flooding the Skidmore’s newly renovated pool, colors swirling together as the pool boy looked on in horror. Ms. Skidmore disappeared with a crack and reappeared in the arms of her Argentinian lover she’d had the pleasure of encountering during the Spring of ‘79 when she was studying abroad…
IKEA Order
Beth was excited when she got home from work and all her IKEA furniture had arrived. She had just moved into her new apartment the day before and was new to the city, so the enormous mounds of packages were not something she found daunting. The excitement and anticipation of breaking out her toolkit she’d finally located…
Clumsy
Jackson groaned, arm twitching from having fallen asleep, cursing that he’s somehow slept on his neck wrong. Muttering, he swore he would never again let Jed subject his Saturday mornings to the aftermath that inevitably occurs with just the right mixture of vermouth and mezcal over the course of one evening. Bracing himself for the bright light of day, Jackson attempted to raise his right hand to cover his eyes but couldn’t lift his arms.
Eyes snapping open, he winced and heart racing, began to hyperventilate as he realized he was tied to a wrought iron lawn chair surrounded by pink hydrangeas. Flaky white paint peeled off the chair as he tugged his arms frantically trying to get out of--were those Hermes scarves?! Jackson leaned down to get closer and inspect the material.
Fire Cannot Kill A Dragon
Flannel sheets pressed down, almost stifling in the heat emanating from the whistling radiator in the corner of the room. Winter chill still nipped through their creaking house. Drowsy, she tugged the ends of the sheets up till they covered her nose and sighed, eager to slip back into unconsciousness and hopefully dream.
As the feeling of floating slowly spread, she waited for that last minute knee-jerk reaction hauling her back to the real world. She was surprised to feel petals and leaves brushing against her legs. She started to relax, eager to embrace a dream filled with flowers, until something sharp scratched her side and startled her into full awareness…
Homeless
hey trudged along the overpass, burning their belongings as they went. Limping along with nothing but their children’s hands clutched in their own. The wreckage of satellites torn apart upon entrance back into the atmosphere scattered in sharp, twisted pieces, glinting in the sunlight. Several pieces were still glowing hot, smoking and giving the air a hazy sheen.
He heard children wailing, their tears running in clear tracks, muddying the dirt and soot on their faces. A man pulled a young girl along by the straps of her pink overalls, one of the ribbons holding her hair in pigtails trailing behind her. Her light up shoes scrabbled uselessly against the dirt as she screamed, words lost amongst the cacophony of grief and outrage…
Place Your Bets
Stevie gleefully made his way past the whirring slot machines and blinking lights. He was feeling lucky and it took no skill to perch in a chair and insert a coin here, pull a lever there. Utterly boring without a smidge of a real challenge. Cross your fingers for good luck and be done with it.
The poor sots who let themselves get entranced at the machines were easy prey. He scoffed at the foolish women muttering prayers to the godless chrome casino as he made his way towards the tables.
Knocking back his double shot of bourbon, Stevie slid into a plush seat and winked at the dealer. The dealer greeted him with a blank stare. Unfit for customer service that one. Not even a nod to acknowledge an honest gambler’s presence. Stevie glanced over at his fellow gambler three chairs over and rolled his eyes, but only received a suspicious glare…