Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Criminal.
It Wasn't Worth It
“Package for you,” Ben’s mother wheezed. She was a wide woman, with hips twice the width of her shoulders and half the width of her waistline. She never averted her gaze from the television, with an ashtray to the right of her and an oxygen tank to her left.
By Belle C. Fairbanks5 years ago in Criminal
Nemesis
I kept it in a false drawer within my desk. An old, black Moleskine notebook that I’d been given many years earlier. At first, I used it to record events that I wanted to note, or memorable statements or quotes I wished to record and be able to refer back to. Sometimes when I was travelling, for work or on holiday, I’d write down times, places, even meals, that seemed worthy of inclusion in my little black book.
By Stephen Flynn5 years ago in Criminal
Doing Laundry
I ran. Fast. The cascading darkness of the city streets blurred past as I set an unnatural pace. Only the shine of a few decrepit streetlamps, flickering intermittently, exposed my surroundings as I dodged turned over garbage cans and boxes of God knows what. I knew these streets well, as I had walked home through them a few hundred times, but this time was different, this time I was running, and this time I was being chased. My lungs worked like a bellows, moving swaths of air in and out, trying to keep up with my legs. The adrenaline coursing through my veins reigned paramount over my body keeping me moving forwards. Logic and will had abandoned me, as fear consumed my mind and the animal instincts of fight or flight ruled. And for a 24-year-old, five foot nothing, female in a, shall we say, substantially seedy part of town picked flight every time. As I approached an alley to my right, I paused a moment, partly to catch my breath, which had long ago escaped me, and partly to check if my pursuers were still hot on my tail. I looked back and saw light bouncing up and down off the walls of the building I had just passed and heard voices and the heavy breath of at least three men. I looked down at what I towed in my left arm, which was burning from the weight of a large cylindrical black duffle bag bulging on all sides from its contents. I took one last lengthy inhale and darted down the alley.
By Tyler deMey5 years ago in Criminal
5 Things You Didn't Know About Bonnie and Clyde
They robbed, they murdered, they destroyed lives(including their own)but there's so much more that happened with these two during this time after the Depression that many don't even know about it. So I wanted to take a moment and share with you some things that you may have never known about Bonnie and Clyde.
By Kathy Lester5 years ago in Criminal
The Last Gift
I pulled my jacket tight around me against the chill. My breath plumed in big clouds in front of me as I walked toward the house. The sun shone weakly, barely above the rooftops of the tidy houses in the quiet neighborhood. I walked up to the gate of the six-foot wooden fence and pulled the string that opened the inner latch. I shouldn’t be here, I thought. I had been telling myself to turn around, to let it go, to close this chapter and get on with my life. For weeks now. Ever since the judge had made the ruling and the fight was over. But I couldn’t. It was my house, and I worked hard for it and everything within its walls. I just couldn’t let it go yet. There was one more thing I had to do.
By Delaney Peterson5 years ago in Criminal
The Little Black Book of Secrets We Keep
Gracie Love strolled into the courtroom while people stared at her. Some of people were thankful that she had the opportunity to tell her truth and some of the people looked angry. The people who looked angry were perhaps, misled by the stories of people who tried to get away with several crimes. The Robinson family wanted Gracie to keep her mouth shut, but the truth had been held in her heart and mind for much too long. She braced herself firmly on the arm of her husband, David Love who was there to support her as they took a seat on the wooden bench closest to the door.
By Tavetta Patterson5 years ago in Criminal
Unforeseen Circumstance
Red and blue lights come flashing up behind me. I glance down at the speedometer and notice I’m not speeding. I continue to pull over to the right hand shoulder anyhow expecting him to pass by but instead he pulls up behind me. I sit there dumbfounded, wondering why I’ve been pulled over. A tail light must be out or something and he’s just being a good civilian. Perhaps, just letting me know, giving me a warning.
By Laura Berggren5 years ago in Criminal
The Cold Tile Floor
She couldn’t believe he was actually gone. As she walked back into the home they’d shared for four years, she was flooded with memories. It was his house, but it was almost completely bare when she moved in, so she was the one who decorated and made it feel like a home. He had worked as a police officer for 22 years and was close to retirement. For the last eight years, he’d trained every new cop in their small town. They were completely infatuated with each other, and every moment felt like the stuff of fairy tales.
By LJ Livingston5 years ago in Criminal
Our Story
Jennings having lived most of his life in some of the bigger city was now calling the quiet little town of Wheats town; in the middle of nowhere Indiana, home. The Complex was the biggest apartment complex in; not only the town, but the county. The Complex is a rather quiet little three story building, close to the center of town. Once a rather bustling factory making fencing, tubing and wiring; now it is affordable living units for multiple families.
By Jeremiah W. Hudson5 years ago in Criminal
