Mystery
Castle McDermott
A shrill cry echoes in the night. Candlelight illuminates Freya's face from across the room. Looking into my sister’s wide eyes, I know she heard it too. I hear shuffling from somewhere inside the cottage, footsteps on the floor, light moving its way closer to the door frame.
By Kelsey Kidder4 years ago in Fiction
The Owl at Beauregard Manor
“Arabella, don’t be frightened.” The unfamiliar voice spoke over the phone. “Look out your window.” I did as I was instructed. The small hairs on my neck and arms were raised. Shivers went down my spine, and not just from the cold. It was the coldest day of the year thus far, at 16 degrees Fahrenheit. There was a blue haze over that snowy landscape. Other than the snow that started to fall, I couldn’t see much of anything outside. The fire crackled in the fireplace across the room. I stood there clinging to the telephone that sat on my father’s desk. I never answer my father’s phone, but it was also unlike my father to be out so late. The phone had begun to ring as I was starting the fire for when he got home. The old-fashioned rotary phone’s ring startled me. Something about the snow added an extra layer of quiet over the manor.
By Flannery McIntyre Dziedzic4 years ago in Fiction
SNOW ANGEL
SNOW ANGEL Pat Williams lay flat on the ground, hands stretched out in front of him, legs splayed out to the sides. He lay still for the moment gathering his wits. The snow on his face quickly getting his attention. Swinging his arms down to his side he brought his legs together, pushing himself up. Shaking the snow off his arms body he turned and looked back at the car stuck in the snow, its headlights casting a beam of light highlighting his struggles. His wife Sarah stared out of the windshield at him slowly shaking her head. He shrugged and gave her a thumbs up to show he was okay and turned to continue down the slick snow-covered driveway that they had slid into. Well, it wasn’t exactly ‘they’, he had misjudged his speed and the curve of the road. He’d be hearing about that for a while. Luckily the car had managed to avoid the stone walls that lined the road and had slid into someone’s driveway. Now it was stuck, the front grill buried in the soft powdery snow that had been falling for the last hour. If it hadn’t been snowing, they would have been well on the way to the children’s medical center using the interstate but an accident had effectively shut it down. Pat’s only good fortune was the highway was shut down before they could get on the onramp. But now he was stuck in a snowy driveway in the middle of nowhere. Looking down he noticed that his fall and flailing about had created a pretty good snow angel. He smiled to himself and thought that their daughter Anne would have enjoyed seeing that. But right now, she was strapped in her car seat behind her mom. She being the reason for this trip. She needed her monthly I.V. treatment to treat the infection that was rampaging through her body. The doctor’s had assured them that there was a good chance that the course of treatment would take care of it but they had to maintain the monthly schedule for several months. Pat continued walking down the slippery snow-covered driveway, taking his time, trying to avoid another embarrassing faceplant in the snow. When the car had come to a halt in a powdery puff of snow, Pat had noticed a light shining in the distant darkness. Hopefully someone was home and he could get some help and apologize for blocking their driveway. As he continued on his way, shuffling his feet like a penguin trying to stay upright, he heard the flapping of wings directly over his head. Ducking instinctively, he cranked his head around and saw a large bird swooping down towards him, its large wings flapping effortlessly as it passed over. With a piercing ssshhreeeek the bird landed in a tree next to him, dropping a fresh load of snow down onto Pat’s head. “Thanks a lot for that” said Pat annoyingly as he tried to scoop the snow off his head and out of his collar. Looking up into the tree he could see a large, white, heart shaped face with coal black eyes and dark brownish body staring quizzically at him. Great he thought, that scared the bejeesus out of him. A barn owl, another witness to his struggles. Hope it was enjoying the show. Wonder if Sarah saw that, he thought, Anne would laugh when he told her how it scared him. Coming around a corner he saw the house directly in front of him. The light that he had seen shone softly in the curtained doorway window.
By Michael J DuBois4 years ago in Fiction
The Harbinger Of Dreams
As the peak of the Mountain approaches and my dream reaches its close, my eyes find more than I expected. Before me stands a vision, a solid contrast to the sundrenched snow. It dwarfs both the rising majesty and the dizzying drop of the slope with its unexpected disclosure. It is a dignitary, alien to all that has come to pass within the last half century.
By Ad-Libbing With The Z-Man4 years ago in Fiction
Who - ooo?
Who was he? Every Wednesday Morning, same ritual. What was it about him? Why did I wait for him? Here he is... walking towards my shop window, will he pass? No. As usual 1. He hesitates, then looks closely in the window. 2. Slowly, carefully, he checks his scarf. I watch, waiting for him to move toward the door, to come in...but no, every Wednesday for the past four weeks the routine has not altered! 3. He pushes his hands, into his pockets and walks on.
By Nicci Forte4 years ago in Fiction
The Watcher
Silence is subtle in the wild; forests oscillate between bustle and quiet, with moments of silence found only deep in the night, tucked between the hoots of owls. Addy felt the quiet before she consciously noted it. When she realized that she hadn’t heard any life stirring in hours, her eyes shot to the clock: 12:47am. She finished editing her photo of a grizzly cub, which had cost her hours outside in almost-freezing temperatures of a Yellowstone spring.
By Heather Orr4 years ago in Fiction
Initiation
I hate parties Brooke Adams thought, growing more and more uneasy as she approached the elaborate estate. She wished she hadn't agreed to show up to the ridiculous costume party in the first place. That is, until Heather made her an offer. An offer she couldn't refuse. Her new best friend had promised to make her part of the Diamond club. Who could resist that? Every senior this side of Angel View Lake wanted to be part of the all prestigious girls club and only the coolest girls showed up for initiation held every year on Halloween.
By Renee Gonsales4 years ago in Fiction
The Spirit Within
‘Naia, it’s time’. The words broke the stillness of the twilight and tore Naia from her reverie, her gaze snapping from the crackles and flashes of the mist-wreathed mountain in the distance and turning to rest on the silhouette crouched on the cliff’s overhang above her.
By T R J MacGregor4 years ago in Fiction
The Weight
From the moment he walked into the cottage, he felt her there. Her presence, her voice. The first night they stayed, he dreamt of her. She sang to him and he woke with the dream lingering, feeling her still within him. And all the subsequent nights they stayed, seven in all, he dreamt of her again. A weight settled in his stomach. Somewhere between pain and joy.
By John Quick4 years ago in Fiction
Lost
How did you get here? White, it fell from the skies that blended with the horizons. The cold that had pierced through the many coats had numbed every muscle. You walked so far, for so long. Your legs no longer listened to the commands you willed for them. The snow had taken away your sense of direction, that’s fine no way out of this hell anyway. No way out, you’ve known that from the beginning. Why did you keep going? Why did you shove your way through the layers of white only to end up here? Under the shadow of a lone tree, the only disruption to the white abyss. How did you end up here, the tree, the snow. The owl.
By LaKia Decker4 years ago in Fiction
Night Owl
It all started when I was five years old. I hadn’t a care in the world then. My days were very predictable. I wasn’t in school yet, so I stayed home with my mother. Every day we would be in the kitchen preparing dinner for when my father came home. One night, my mother was acting strange. She was pacing back and forth and had a worried look on her face. She tried so hard not to show me she was afraid of something.
By Nicole Clewley4 years ago in Fiction
