Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Fiction.
Above Desolation
There was no hope now. And no turning back. We had come all this way for nothing. A nothingness. My finger nails dig into my palms. If blood were to be drawn I would not find it surprising. But I would not care. Chargrind perched, wings splayed behind me, his copper scales luminescent in the dusk. The only friend I have left. They fought and lost. The battle had raged on for an age. To be the last living souls is an odd sensation. That sense of loss, but also of suspension. Detached. It has not yet sunk in.
By E.B. Mahoney5 years ago in Fiction
Adeleigh's Amends
With nurture, Adeleigh held my head close to her side as she peered above the crowd. I kept to myself, youthfully ruffling my fingers through her long, wavy brown hair. Adeleigh stared down at me and spoke rather deliberately, "I need you to look me in the eyes and promise me you will keep it on." I remained leaning beside her while the sun gleamed down onto my face. "Anna, please look at me! I know you're afraid, but I'm not sure what's happening," she said. "Addy, we've been standing out here all day. My feet are hurting, and the sun is starting to burn," I exclaimed. Adeleigh, now holding me more tightly towards her, began to rub my arm as a means of comfort. "I know Anna. I'm trying to figure out what's happening. I can see officers going around talking to people, so we will find out what's happening once they make their way towards us, okay?" she uttered reassuringly. I continued to cling to her, fatigued and displeased over the circumstances I found myself in. Several people were shouting and cursing, crying and weeping, but I took solace in my sister's composure. I wanted to follow her lead, even though I found myself growing more immobilized as time moved forward. A few other children I could make out through the gaps between the adults looked similar to me in age. One girl even mirrored my exact clothing style, minus the flower petal embroidery of my sundress and the heart-shaped locket Adeleigh just secured around my neck. Still hearing the crowd of people grow more enraged as the warmest hours of the day passed, I fixed my focus up at Adeleigh's face to gather any updates she may have had solely based on her facial expressions. Each time I looked up, they were always the same, dismal but composed. Dismally lost because she still had no answers and desperately controlled because I needed her to have them. Gazing up at her, I asked, "Is anything happening, Addy?" With hesitation in her voice, she replied, "The officers are still going around talking to people, but it looks like they're getting close to us. I will talk with them myself when they are close enough. Please, don't say anything when they do speak to us, Anna." I nodded my head in agreement.
By Nathan Fisher5 years ago in Fiction
Woman of the Wastelands
If you humans knew the truth about reality, what you think of as the multiverse, it would be so poisonous as to destroy you, shattering your illusions of the worth of everything. But I, a celestial being, the writer of this universe, will let you have a metafictional peep through the 4th wall. Not because I care, but for my amusement.
By Brittany Smith5 years ago in Fiction
The Final Frontier for Old Growth
With the breeze blowing against his face, Danny is at peace. He’s isolated from civilization and among the last of the old growth trees. While waiting, he inspects the bark of the yellow cedar he stands behind. This goddess is nearly four hundred years old. Danny toys with the thought yet has no true grasp of how long that is. He peels off her bark playfully, trying to get a longer strip with each try. Finally, his supervisor breaks him from his daydreams.
By Nevin Louie5 years ago in Fiction
Lost Tomorrow
It was as if I was walking into a haunted memory of a world long forgotten. From the row of boarded windows that I’d entered through, there were small mounds of sand that had made their way like I had. It made it seem like everything the sand covered was being fossilized. A quick glance would tell you that this used to be a magnificent library; the type that had refined elegance and prosperity. Now, most of the books were gone and, in their place, stood nothing but empty promises of a bright future and cobwebs.
By Elizabeth Vasquez5 years ago in Fiction
Behind The Waterfall
“She just kept repeating, ‘Behind the waterfall.’ I can still hear her saying it, over and over. Every time I close my eyes, I can see her face, and I can still feel her hand squeezing mine as she said it, until her grip slowly faded, and I couldn’t feel her anymore.” Iris said. “I still don’t know exactly what she was trying to tell me. I’m not sure if it was because she was sick, or if she wanted me to find something. Either way, it’s the last memory I have of her. I know she would want me to keep going, so I do. No matter what. Even when I know it’s hopeless. I just keep going, for her. It’s not even a question anymore.”
By Ryan Barbin aka “Dirt”5 years ago in Fiction
Fates Unknown
The toaster popped as James poured coffee into a mug for his father, who sat at the table reading the partially transparent morning paper from his wrist holographic. The magnitude of the day appeared to mean nothing to him. His only son could be dead by the end of the day, and he just sat there reading like it was any other morning.
By Tommy Brown5 years ago in Fiction
Mercy
The humidity wafted through the air with a heavy presence. The normally dusty and dirt streets were caked with a sticky, thick mud. My boots slogged across the ground as I patrolled through this empty city, alone and tired. I could hear the wind blow through the tall buildings which stood over me like obelisks watching every move I made. I eyed the occasional camera set up on corners or perched on the tops of empty offices, and knew that I probably was being watched. At the moment, I was walking through a street not flanked by sky scrapers, but instead lined with old store fronts and small houses. Old even for their time, but everything is old now. Nothing new has been built in decades. All that there is left to find, is broken, decrepit buildings that somehow still managed to stand.
By Matthew Bargery5 years ago in Fiction
Oh, Arthur
After the sounds of roaring thunder had waned, Mary woke up below a heap of rubbles. How long had she been passed out? She hurt all over her body; she placed her hand on her chest. There was a burning. She looked down; the heart-shaped locket her younger brother had given her for her birthday was stuck in her chest, right above her heart.
By Catharina E Santasilia5 years ago in Fiction
Heart Shaped Apocalypse
Waking up was like a dream. Chain could never recall this sort of heaviness overwhelming her, like she was chained down by metal weights. She could not recall anything at all. This was the day of her ‘birth’ after all and she wanted nothing but to cry out to the faces glazed above her, staring in wonder.
By Marilyn Rechtman5 years ago in Fiction
