Latest Stories

Most recently published stories in Fiction.

Homebound
The planet was a glistening jewel on the viewscreen. It was mostly white and blue, with a few green and yellowish-brown patches.
By Allison Oesterle5 years ago in Fiction
Poisonous Advancements
He would have to go out. He needed to collect more of the ivy he had found in the forest just past the old donut shop downtown. His attempts to decipher why it was different, more predatory, more voracious than the other ivy strangling the city had so far proven fruitless.
By Darcie Fielding5 years ago in Fiction
Tomorrow Still Comes
Tomorrow Still Comes (By Stanton D. Barker) The constant smell of motor oil from the Simtex and C-4 was still thick in the humid haze of the morning air. The crackling of back alley cremations added a pungent flavor to the mix. A family of cockroaches had set up camp behind the dust-covered countertop pulled from the rubble that was once my “Forever” home. Words like forever, and tomorrow seemed to have lost their meaning as I watched the six legged opportunists scurry away under the harsh morning light.
By Stanton D Barker5 years ago in Fiction
A Gift for Family
“I hope this is worth something, Old Man.” The words echoed around the room before returning to silence. The old man continued to examine the object, moving slowly. In the poor lighting it was sometimes hard to notice him there, but now he seemed to camouflage with the clutter around him.
By George Seaton5 years ago in Fiction
Meditations After The End Of The World
Together the crone and I walked in country by sea an afternoon late that summer. Having left through a pass in the southern hills we started out not long after dawn. The sun in our eyes and harsh bearing upon us. Along past the winding hills turned northeast down a disserviced road; an hour later cleared a wooded area, diverged onto a rubble backroad and started coming back closer to the water.
By James B. William R. Lawrence5 years ago in Fiction
A New Genesis
The air I breathe, in these walls of confinement, is stiff and stale. I haven’t seen the star-specked sky in what feels like forever, but I’ve seen the luminescence of the moon’s soft rays. I’ve seen the way it makes what few belongings I have glow ever so slightly, and the way it makes the shadows they cast upon my stone surroundings dance like they’re in a ballet. If only I could gaze upon its beauty without compromising my safety, I might be able to bring myself to love something again.
By Reuben Kabzinski5 years ago in Fiction
After the Storm
It was still slightly dark outside, and the early dawn’s sunlight was breaking through the trees in the quiet, damp forest. The trees’ shadows were swaying as the light was gently beaming through the brush, warning all life that another day was at its beginning.
By Rebecca McFadden 5 years ago in Fiction
Flawless
It was a Friday; time was standing still, and I held my breath as I waited for my final moments. The clock ticked down, every second felt like an eternity, every movement of the second hand felt like a dagger swiping away the last of my life. I was told that at our final moments we experience our lives flash before our eyes.
By Joshua Rossman5 years ago in Fiction
The Balance of Fate
I remember when violence in music, television and movies was censored. Everyone was certain that kids would become desensitized to it all and it would lead to violence and hatred in everyday life. I was one of the kids who thought, “Seriously, we know the difference between reality and it’s consequences and make believe.” I know I sure did, but I was horribly mistaken. It didn’t stop with kids but even adults got it in their head that a television show or movie was real. They couldn’t differentiate between the actors and their characters, so very desperate to escape what they perceived as their own redundant, boring lives. Within 10 years, more graphic lyrics, scenes and even newscasts were becoming more and more prevalent. With technology, people began to disconnect from one another. It opened the door for the always present yet suppressed “human nature” to begin to rule society, governments, military, you name it yet so many people just couldn’t see how things were getting out of hand. They couldn’t see what evil was happening around them. I remember after witnessing several completely selfish, heartless and extremely cruel acts of people around me that I wrote a poem about how I was certain there were people being born these days without souls. Finally, one day, a little known dictator decided that nuclear weapons weren’t as dangerous as they had been made out to be and really didn’t care about anything except being right and recreating in reality the plot to his favorite television series. He blew up his own country when the weapon malfunctioned and destroyed half the world along with its population. That’s when “they” came. Strangers that were not truly human, not alien, nothing we could explain. They came a few at a time at first through flashes or what I came to see as rifts. What was left of the human race fought disease, radiation poisoning, the loss of the luxuries everyone relied on. The “soulless” prayed on those who could not clearly see this coming but who were truly what humanity used to strive to become, kind, pure and innocent. All they want and do is reach out and help each other. Nonviolent, loving, peaceful, even in the face of this ruined world. The “innocents” never thought about retaliating against their oppressors even when members of their group were murdered. Those of us who could clearly see how humanity was changing for the worst, who saw where the world was headed as years passed right up to the end of our civilization, try to protect the innocents. We call ourselves the “seers”. We know that the innocents must be protected. They are the future of humanity. The soulless have to go but when our work is done, we must also go. Our ability for violence would taint the innocents. However, we are happy to sacrifice ourselves in the end to see humanity reach its true potential.
By Gelene Beverly5 years ago in Fiction
The perfect after
Quiet. It was quiet. That’s what I remembered most about the end. About the day the entire world snapped, and everything vanished within its scorching depths. Nothing was left. All was destroyed. Everything was changed. Never again would I hear a wail of a bird, a hum of an engine, or a piercing scream within the darkness.
By Candice Coombe5 years ago in Fiction
A Line on the Wall
“It must be March. Or April,” the man said aloud, more to himself than to his companion. “I’ll do the math later.” It hardly mattered anyway.
By Daniel McShane5 years ago in Fiction
The Long Cold
“Do we need to restrain him or something?” asked Kate. She stood wearily outside the cold room, peering in at their newly admitted patient. He looked in bad shape. His hair was mostly gone, eyebrows and all, with most of the left side of his body rotted away. It seemed like a miracle he was still alive.
By Peter C5 years ago in Fiction