Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Fiction.
Liminal
I found it at a bus stop. Waiting for the 8:15 from downtown to the Park’s Ridge neighborhood so I could walk thirty minutes home. There was plenty of people around me and even though it was dark the bus stop’s lights made is safely bright. It was, like a crack in a door, between a tall trashcan and Coke machine. It wasn’t much brighter than the place around it but it was just bright enough to make this strange thin rectangle stand out of place with the rest of the environment.
By Arthur E Nickles5 years ago in Fiction
Shattered
“Sixty years ago, the world went to war for the final time. Billions of people lost their lives, homes and the beauty of this once magnificent place, where everywhere you looked there were new majesties to behold. My wife and I had been married for five years when the government ordered a nuclear war and for the citizens of our country to get into hiding, but by this time, they have been saying this for years. So, no one really took them seriously. We had all become complacent with our thoughts that a nuclear world war would ever transpire. Oh, how horribly wrong we were. On that fateful day, my wife and I were out enjoying a picnic looking out over the ocean. We had ourselves a nice pasta salad with our special homemade vinaigrette, some grilled ham and cheeses that we made on a portable hot plate and some quite refreshing blush champagne. We were talking about how we wanted to start a family but we needed to find a better home that would be suitable for more than just two people. We were dining and talking, smiling and laughing, having ourselves an amazing and unforgettable afternoon when our phones had beeped at us, telling us that we needed to get into hiding, that a war to end all wars, and civilizations was imminent. My wife and I looked at each other, held each other and kissed. We stood to our feet, my anxiety and fear causing my body to shiver like I was in the arctic and my wife, her beautiful blue eyes weeping because she knew we had nowhere to go. We were unfortunate and nowhere near well off to afford such a place like a bomb shelter, let alone one meant for nuclear fallout. So, we went to the only place we knew, our home. We sat there in waiting for what seemed an eternity. A bright flash radiated out on the horizon and I reached into my pocket and pulled out a gift I had forgotten to give her earlier. She opened the small velveteen box and with tears in her eyes, she took out the locket, opened it and saw a picture of the two of us. The locket was a rose gold heart, with a blue sapphire setting. As she was weeping, I helped her put it on. We kissed what would be our final kiss and goodbye. The shockwave of the blast had made our home shake like it was in the middle of an earthquake. We stumbled around trying to get to the bathroom, we didn’t have any better ideas. We grabbed a mattress and covered up in the tub. Our home, that we spent the last five years making our own, crumbling down all around us. Then everything went black.”
By Dustin Willis5 years ago in Fiction
do humans dream in cryosleep?
They say when you enter cryosleep that you dream the entire time. I wouldn’t call it dreaming. It’s more like moments. Maybe it’s because we’re asleep so long. Our brains understand how much time is passing but since we’re not conscious, our normal dreams register like blips on an eternal radar.
By Jillian Rivera5 years ago in Fiction
Just a locket
The horizon was white as paper. If 6 year old Q (as her parents called her) had not been so distraught, she would have liked to reach out with her small hands and draw on it, just as so many times before she had drawn on her parents walls with her many stumps of crayons. She lived a happy wonderful life, until 20 minutes ago when the sounds began. Deep rumblings that seemed to shake everything that existed. Her parents were nowhere to be found, and this light, this brilliant white light was consuming the once black sky. Streaming from homes like ants from a hill were all her neighbors. Terrified gasps, petrified screams. What was this? As Q fell to the grass, her breath barely coming in stabs through her wracking sobs. She clutched at something warm in her hand. It was the only thing important to her now. Then everything faded.
By Aaron Bush 5 years ago in Fiction
Dark Wizards
In the dead of night, a helicopter flies by, shining its light down on the ground. Under the cover of darkness, a dark cloaked figure is behind some rubble. As the helicopter flies by, the dark figure runs over to the next piece of debris. As it passes by the general area, the cloaked figure runs into a cave.
By Jeremiah Ellison5 years ago in Fiction
Alone in the Heart Land
As far the eye could see there was nothing but flat, scorched land. Land that had finally started to give into the sun. It was a good time to stop and recharge, but there was nowhere to hide from potential opportunists. There used to be a strip mall ten miles down the road but that has been scoured and turned over by so many looking for anything of value. If I go another twenty there is a Big Truckstop, but that’s pretty much the same.
By Conner Williams5 years ago in Fiction
The Manor
Dear reader, If you have encountered this, I presume you unwell. To hold it lightly in your palms, the sensation of pressure that pulls uncomfortably at the hairs on the back of your neck, you have found yourself inside the Manor. Conversely, I suppose this piece of me, hoping to salvage the pieces of you, perhaps made its way beyond this house.
By Kay Source5 years ago in Fiction
