Kozinka

Joined March 2021

10 stories

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I'm a writer who loves a challenge.

Stories (10)

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HOSTILE TAKEOVER
All of a sudden, Brenda realized she had achieved next-level mindfulness. The proof was the shift in sound. The usual backdrop during meditation class was the percussion of early evening traffic. That was her first complaint to Myra, the instructor. The room was not the silent, sterile environment she had envisioned, which, Brenda insisted, would have been much more conducive to concentration; instead, it was a former dance studio with creaky wood floors and a long mirror along one wall. Her classmates often assessed their reflections when they were supposed to be meditating, like restless children during Sunday school prayers. She knew they cheated because she tended to catch them while sneaking a peek herself.
By Kozinka3 years ago in Fiction
It Crawls
The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. Cassie knew that for Jared, lighting the ceremonial candle was a sacred part of his ritual, the moment when he tuned into the vibe and set his intentions to communicate with the dead. He sat on a pillow at the center of the room, folded his legs into the lotus position, and closed his eyes. He expected her to follow his lead and do the same.
By Kozinka4 years ago in Horror
Around Sunrise
You put on shoes before descending the stairs. When you open the basement door, the question marks of their tails pass by, one solid gray, one pastel orange. The brothers race up the stairs and beat you to the deck door. You open it slowly, so as not to bump their eager noses. You know it’s risky letting the cats out this early, but you tell yourself you’ll watch them. The long winter will be here soon enough; they need to enjoy the summer. You shake kibble into their bowls.
By Kozinka4 years ago in Earth
Surrender, Dorothy!
Dorothy carried a dozen miniature white flags on the front seat of her car. Her reasoning was that if she did something to provoke other drivers, she could wave a little white flag of surrender. She hoped that would mollify the hotheads, and they would refrain from hurting her or her passengers—although, really, the only passenger she ever ferried was her rescue dog, Buster.
By Kozinka4 years ago in Fiction
Europa and the Bull
The woman scaled the fence and climbed into the bull pen, despite the old man waving his arms and hollering that she could die.
By Kozinka4 years ago in Fiction
You, Around Sunrise
You put on shoes before descending the stairs. When you open the basement door, the question marks of their tails pass by, one solid gray, one pastel orange. The brothers race up the stairs and beat you to the deck door. You open it slowly, so as not to bump their eager noses. You know it’s risky letting the cats out this early, but you tell yourself you’ll watch them. The long winter will be here soon enough; they need to enjoy the summer. You shake kibble into their bowls.
By Kozinka4 years ago in Fiction
Tempting Fate
When Raquel confided she planned to run away from home, I felt confused since we weren’t exactly friends. She and her pals called themselves The Toughies, and I generally steered clear; not because they ever tormented me like they did some of the other nerds, but because—just like my Grammy and Grampy—I avoided tempting fate whenever possible. Raquel looked plenty menacing when she called back over her shoulder, “Hey, Samantha! Tell nobody. Understand?”
By Kozinka5 years ago in Fiction
Beagles and Birdbrains
In the moment I knew I was going to die, it wasn’t my whole life that flashed before my eyes, but the memory of my first job, right after graduation, with my newly minted Masters in Science. The assignment was to teach birds the wrong song. From incubation in the egg to maturity, we played recordings of the oriole song to robins, and the robin song to phoebes, and the phoebe song to the wood thrush. Success was measured by the confusion of the young male birds, and if they actually sang the wrong song, we broke out the champagne and promptly euthanized and dissected the subjects to discover what havoc we had wrought upon their little bird brains. We learned nothing, but no matter. We met the conditions of our funding. The question was always can we do it, never, should we?
By Kozinka5 years ago in Fiction
We All Have Our Reasons
I was expecting a call the other day, so I took the phone out back with me. Andrea was surprised to hear that I was hanging my laundry on the line while we spoke.
By Kozinka5 years ago in Earth
Restaurant Rich
When Ella entered the apartment, a reusable shopping bag in each hand, she paused a moment. She wanted to absorb the image of Jaime fiddling with the controls to the television, like he’d done every night for the past year. She smiled.
By Kozinka5 years ago in Humans