Carolyn Sternes

Joined April 2020

29 stories

Stories (29)

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Level: Infinite
Light flashed around me. Buzzers rang, bells dinged. The air was thick with the scent of hot chips, a sausage roll that had clearly overstayed its welcome in the heat cabinet, and the unmistakable tang of teenage sweat. Every few seconds, a puff of fairy-floss vapour drifted past—courtesy of one guy who thought he was being subtle about his vape.
By Carolyn Sternes4 months ago in Fiction
The empty space
She stared, so I looked Tiny eyes found life in still “People hungry, Mum.”
By Carolyn Sternes4 months ago in Poets
Above the trenches. Content Warning.
Playing cards scatter the surface. An upturned crate becomes a table. The dirt becomes a latrine. Meagre rations become a full meal.
By Carolyn Sternes4 months ago in Poets
Autumn flames
Red and orange sparks Floating flames, the sky’s alight, Earth is set ablaze
By Carolyn Sternes5 months ago in Poets
Crushed leaf
I crumble the leaf Into a million pieces Scattered like lost dreams
By Carolyn Sternes5 months ago in Poets
After the corner. Content Warning.
The road beneath is behind me. The air is still. Tyres stop spinning — no traction. Imitating life: no resistance for the car
By Carolyn Sternes5 months ago in Poets
The hands
My eyes flew open — sure I’d heard it again. It took longer than I liked for them to adjust in the dark. Everything in the room seemed to elongate, shapes stretching into something hungry. Tendrilled shadowy fingers reached along the walls. I pulled the blanket over my head.
By Carolyn Sternes6 months ago in Fiction
Please ask. Content Warning.
You made the whole world glad, Though inside you only felt sad. A spark of joy in a world so dim, No one knew your end would be so grim.
By Carolyn Sternes6 months ago in Poets
One egg. Content Warning.
The words echo in my ears One egg Didn’t fertilise Another failed round The stages of grief hit me quickly Then they seem to pass
By Carolyn Sternes6 months ago in Poets
Mountain's Secrets. Content Warning.
Autumn leaves crunched beneath his boots as he once more made the journey. Nightfall was upon him, and he knew he would soon need to find a place to rest. The climb to the mountain’s peak was a three-day endeavor. He had made this pilgrimage before, yet this time the goal was different.
By Carolyn Sternes6 months ago in Fiction
Where were you?
They always ask where you were, When things happened that changed the world. I never know how to explain, For most of those things I was a little girl.
By Carolyn Sternes6 months ago in Poets
The Best Month
The shopping centre aisles twinkled with tinsel, fairy lights, and all things Christmas. It had been this way for months already, and it was barely November. Young, curious hands reached out to touch everything in sight.
By Carolyn Sternes7 months ago in Fiction