Historical

Silence of Time. Top Story - October 2023.
They say a dying man prays for solace. I only pray that I find him in time. Everything is crimson and out of focus. It’s like trying to see through a mud splattered windshield, with the wipers smearing dirt across the entire surface. Grasping onto a rail, the cold metal bites into my skin, I don’t feel the freezing burn, only an emptiness inside. Grabbing a handkerchief, I wipe blood from my face and my sight clears enough for me to get my bearings. I try to tune out the madness surrounding me and focus, I need to find my son.
By JBaz2 years ago in Fiction
Holy Water...
This story is inspired by the song Holy Water by Michael Ray. I do hope you enjoy. Well, this is one story that I do not plan on telling my grandkids one day but it is a story and so I'm gonna tell you then I'm gonna deny I ever said anything about it. I used to go to this small little church in my hometown in southern Mississippi. The pastor there, his name was Timothy, he was a real stand-up man. He took good care of his congregation and cared a lot about us and that church. He'd come to us with about 20 years experience pastoring, had just lost his wife and little girl in a car crash the year prior and so he'd taken a year off to get himself right.
By Lindsey Altom2 years ago in Fiction
Brothers In Arms
Franz Franz Anderson squatted with his back against a muddy wall of the trench assigned to him. Mud was the word of the day. The goopy stuff oozed over the top of his boots, stuck to his pants, coated his skin, and even infiltrated his food. When he ran for cover from incoming fire, it slowed his progress. If the officers ordered him “over the top," the mud transformed his charge into a slog. Just the rats that infested the trenches were unhindered by the mud. The only positive effect of having so much mud was that the British and French had to deal with it as well. When the phrase War is Hell was coined, what they really meant was War is Mud!
By Mark Gagnon2 years ago in Fiction
The Kretchens Dinner. Content Warning.
It was a gravely evening in the Kretchens household. Everyone sat around the table, the only sound being heard by the chatter from their silverware hitting the plate while digging into their hors d’oerve. Olivia, the youngest of the family, sat at the end of the table rather poignant, awaiting the next vocal outburst debate to start up once again. Patrick, the middle youth, held a harlequin mask over his face, hiding the dissatisfaction within him, knowing it would just cause more disappointment than there already was throughout the household. Karla, the eldest of the children, looked around the room cordially, hoping that the situation with her younger brother would help elude the possibility of her mother noticing the hickeys covering her collar bones and lower neck area. As for Mrs. Kretchen, the mother and superior of the household, she kept her eyes glaring at her middle child, with unending amounts of discontentment towards him running through her aging veins.
By M2 years ago in Fiction
The Whispering Guardian: A Jinn's Nocturnal Secret
Once upon a time in the bustling city of Al-Maghreb, nestled in the heart of the Arabian desert, there lived a quiet and enigmatic young woman named Layla. She was renowned for her melodious voice, and her vocal prowess was talked about far and wide. However, Layla harbored a secret that was as intriguing as it was ethereal.
By Alpha the great 2 years ago in Fiction
The magical magic of space: 10 wonders that will surprise
Outer space is an immersive world full of wonders and mysterious phenomena that invite our admiration and amazement. It is a world where beauty and mystery blend, offering us a window to understand the universe in a new way. In this article, we'll explore 10 astronomical wonders that awe and embody the magic of outer space.
By joker2 years ago in Fiction
Calling out Jezebel
"Oh, Jezebel, oh Jezebel, we call upon thee from the bottom of the River Styx to aid us into this spell we tell..." And there they were. The popular ones. The pretty ones. The "fake" ones. The ones that wore heels and only carried purses with a name brand. Not a hair out of place. With pouty lips colored red and fingernails manicured precisely... almost as sharp and pointy as their countenance, critical remarks, and haughtiness; the lot of them, all gathered together in one clump of unadulterated, manipulating, scheming.
By Shirley Belk2 years ago in Fiction
Humanity
My body shook and my arm ached. I could taste the dirt in my mouth and feel the wet uncomfortable mud soaking through my pants, working its way through my underwear as well. My lips were dry, my head ached, and all around, nothing but noise and battle. My eyes were stinging from the smoke. The smell of blood and metal filled the air. And despite all the commotion, despite the ache in my muscles, I sat as still as a rock.
By Aythan Maconachie2 years ago in Fiction
The Thighmaster!
Note: I had this saved in a file for many years and posted it on Reedsy. Not one of my best, but I could not help think of it as I heard of the passing of Suzanne Somers. I was a fan and have no mean intentions behind this posting.
By Kendall Defoe 2 years ago in Fiction
WHAT IF JUPITER AND SATURN COLLIDED??
The two biggest planets in our Solar System in one telescope view. Catastrophe is imminent. If Jupiter and Saturn suddenly were on a collision course, On December 21, 2020, Jupiter and Saturn were closer than they've been in nearly 400 years. This legendary event has an epic name. You could see both planets in the same telescope view. They appeared as a single star in the evening sky. But they were still pretty far from an astronomical collision. If the two gas giants came a little closer, it wouldn't be the first time Jupiter has gone head-to-head with another planet. And you could probably guess who won that battle. Both Jupiter and Saturn are almost entirely gaseous, primarily consisting of hydrogen and helium. And while they may have solid cores, there is no sharp transition between the layers. Jupiter would have some significant advantages. It's about three times as massive as Saturn, with almost double the volume. And it's moving faster too. Jupiter's rotation speed reaches 13 km/s (8.1 mi/s), while Saturn rotates at just below 10 km/s (6 mi/s). But Saturn brings a wild card to the fight. Within its two rings, there are at least 150 moons and moonlets. If the planets drew closer together, Jupiter’s strong gravitational pull would cause these moons, moonlets, rocks, dust and ice to accelerate toward it. Some of them would be torn apart. That's what happened when the comet, Shoemaker-Levy 9, collided with Jupiter in 1994. Originally, the comet was nearly 2 km (1.2 mi) wide. But by the time it crashed, Jupiter’s gravity had torn it to pieces. Those fragments smashed into Jupiter with the force of 300 million atomic bombs. And that heated Jupiter's atmospheric temperature to nearly 40,000 °C (72,000 °F). Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, is over 2,000 times larger than that comet. So the force of it alone colliding with Jupiter would be massive. If Jupiter and Saturn collided, they would begin to merge. Their atmospheres would mix. That would raise the temperatures in the top layers of the gas giants' atmospheres. It would get so hot that Jupiter would experience a chemical reaction, gaining more iron, silicates and even water. Eventually, Jupiter would absorb Saturn. Or most of it. Scientists at Sun Yat-Sen University in China modeled a scenario about what happened when a massive planetary embryo, about ten times the size of Earth, collided with Jupiter 4.5 billion years ago. The impact was so energetic that it destroyed Jupiter’s original compact core. This formed a more diluted core composed of a dense mix of liquid metallic hydrogen and helium. But if Jupiter collided with Saturn, that event would be ten times more massive. Large amounts of material would spread out in space. And then, all that material would come together into a single planetary object. We'd call it New Jupiter or Jupiturnus. And maybe, that new planet would cause more trouble in the Solar System than you might expect. Jupiter is sometimes referred to as a failed star. That's because its size and composition are similar to a brown dwarf. But Jupiturnus would be more massive and have higher internal pressure. If the temperature was high enough, this could cause nuclear fusion in its core. Jupiturnus could become a star. And the impact of having two stars in our planetary neighborhood would be huge. It could even mean the end of life on Earth. Now, don't worry. If these two planets merged, Jupiturnus would have a mass 30% greater than Jupiter. But for nuclear fusion to ignite, the planet would need to reach a mass of 75 Jupiters. So life on Earth would go on. But this would be a spectacular show with tons of gas and debris expelled. Maybe it would all be illuminated by the Sun, giving us a beautiful, glittering end to Saturn as we know it. At least this time, Jupiter didn't go on a rampage and swallow every planet in our Solar System, including Earth. Well, not this time because that would be a story for another WHAT IF.
By Consolata2 years ago in Fiction
What If You Spent 5 Seconds on Uranus?
If this is how you picture walking on Uranus you're wrong. Let's start this again, are you ready to take a trip to the outer regions of the solar system to explore the weirdest planet in our Cosmic neighborhood to venture down into a place that's never been studied up close by any spacecraft ? buckle up for an icy violent and stinky Adventure because your mission is to spend 5 seconds on Uranus and come back. If you can, traveling to Uranus would be a long strange Journey first you'd have to spend 10 long years in a spaceship speeding toward the outskirts of the solar system. If you're lucky you might even pass Jupiter and Saturn on the way just make sure you pack enough food and fuel well there are some things you should know about this world Uranus isn't a rocky planet like Earth it's an ice giant like Neptune and it's the only planet in the solar system that spins on its side it spins fast too one day on Uranus is just 17 Earth hours of course you wouldn't last that long on it not a chance once you arrived at your destination. You still have some work to do to get close to this giant blue planet. You might have to dodge Uranian Rings. Yeah Uranus has rings 13 of them aren't big and Majestic like the gorgeous rings of Saturn. The outer rings are bright and easy to spot but the inner rings are narrow and dark. You'd have to navigate this part of the trip with the utmost care as you made your way through the dusty rings of Uranus, you'd see its glorious blue atmosphere up close for the first time in human history, take a moment to enjoy the Uranus. What an odd balls Planet you know, I flew by it a month ago that was fun you want to know why no body and I mean nobody has ever tried to land anything on the surface of this bootyful planet because Uranus has no surface it's just a swirling ball of toxic gas compressed around a small icy core oh and wait till I tell you why those gases on Uranus are toxic yeah gross yeah okay thanks for your input Chase it's true Uranus might have a calming blue color but it's cold and toxic not the kind of blue planet you want to visit that's okay I think you should sit this one out here I go woohoo H it's brisk here oh Rico what's the temperature - 224° c oh that's cold that explains why feel my fingers or my toes or the rest of my body okay well at least those 5 seconds are done okay Rico it's time to go home let's bounce impossible if my calculations are correct you will reach the icy core in 54.4 minutes so what that wasn't the plan what's point4 of a minute you seconds you dumb bot I suggest you take this opportunity to study the planet up close and report back well I suggest you take this opportunity and stuffing up your charging port I don't have a charging port no one cares Rico no one cares honestly this sucks Uranus smells like yeah the reason Uranus smells so bad is that the clouds in its upper atmosphere are partially made up of hydrogen sulfide not only does this make the planet stink but it's also pretty toxic whatever you do do not inhale it if you did it' make you faint and die instantly what would have been real nice to know this before I jumped yeah well after falling through the stinky clouds at the top atmosphere you'd find yourself in the mix of 82% hydrogen 15% helium and a bit of methane methane gas is what gives Uranus that bluish green Haze because it absorbs light at the red end of the spectrum huh these uh these clouds are getting a little weird kind of floaty yeah the atmosphere on Uranus is very dense after passing through its top layer you'd stop falling and start swimming in it instead as you were paddling deeper you'd start getting pelted by Frozen gas crystals but at least the temperature would be rising I don't know about that I don't feel warm at all oh Rico give me the stats the temperature around you has indeed gone up to - 208° c my calculations show you can expectus 153° C in the lower atmosphere cool great ow what is that that well that's Diamond rain yeah on urinous it rains diamonds that's because the Uranian atmosphere is rich in methane a single carbon compound under extreme pressure the methane molecules break apart and crystallize into diamonds but the worst part is the wind you'd be dealing with winds gusting at speeds of up to 900 kmph that's 3 and 1/2 times stronger than a category 5 hurricane here on Earth R it's getting tighten here oh I can hardly breathe and when I do breathe it smells like ass of of course the pressure is 100 times greater than the atmospheric pressure at Earth's sea level you are approaching the mantle the good news is you wouldn't splatter on anything because there's not much in the way of solids on Uranus the Uranian mantle is made of water ammonia and methane ice it would be Pitch Black in here and thanks to the extreme gravity you wouldn't be able to move a muscle and it would still be incredibly cold what you should be worried about is the immense pressure that would be rapidly increasing the closer you got to the planet center it would squish you before you ever got to the core being crushed by Uranus I always thought it would be way nicer well in this extreme pressure environment your carbon-based body could turn into diamonds and drop down into the core what a spectacular way to finish this oneway trip to the center of Uranus Chase oh all right our solar system is enormous there are so many planets and moons that are a lot more hospitable for a 5sec mission than Uranus where should you go next how about a place covered in methane lakes and with a fantastic view of Saturn in the sky well that's a story for another WHAT IF!
By Consolata2 years ago in Fiction
Whispers of the Forgotten Forest
In the heart of a land untouched by time, there lay a forest hidden from the world. This forest, known only to a few, held secrets that dated back centuries. It was a place where myths and legends became reality, where the trees whispered forgotten tales to the wind, and the very earth seemed to breathe with ancient magic. This was the Forgotten Forest.
By Esther Anima2 years ago in Fiction