Mystery

It Came in the Mail
It came in the mail, I think. A non-descript package wrapped in twine. My mother said when she was young the feeling of brown paper bags made her skin crawl. I turned the brown paper over in my hands. This package made me nauseous.
By Quinelle Bethelmie4 years ago in Fiction
The Light at the End of the Tunnel
THE GREEN LIGHT The Long Sleep I was plucking my ear hair. Things were going swimmingly. And then I started plucking out my nasal hair.
By Gavin Mayhew4 years ago in Fiction
The Arbiter
This is a continuation of the first Vocal Creators Saloon story. Before reading this installment, please be sure to read the first seven parts that precede it, each written by a different member of the Vocal Creators Saloon Facebook Group: Part 1: Knife Skills Part 2: The Right Thing Part 3: Death Has an Order Part 4: Karma Part 5: Best Laid Plans Part 6: The Devil's Glare Part 7: To Trust, or Not to Trust
By Sarahmarie Specht-Bird4 years ago in Fiction
Graveyard
I'm sitting there wondering to myself how did I get into this mess. I'm the only one working at two in the morning at a pie shop.
By Artist of procedure4 years ago in Fiction
Fast Forward
The precision of the fold was uncanny. Every corner came to a sharp point, every edge matched up perfectly to the adjacent one, every detail meticulously cared for and doted over. So much time was spent on the details of the wrapping. It was perfect! Oddly, with the care taken to obsessively ensure that the wrapping was pristine, the twine was carelessly wrapped around. First in a horizontal fashion and vertically, with the thread crossing itself on the bottom and hastily tied into a sloppy, uneven bow on the top. There was a layer of dust covering it. It had been sitting on that shelf for quite some time, untouched, unopened. I imagined lifting it off the shelf to reveal a diagonal facing rectangle shape where it had blocked the dust from the shelf. I wanted to blow the layer of dust off the top and examine the package more closely, but every time I would reach out to touch it, I was denied with a swift whack to my hand.
By C.L. Deslongchamp 4 years ago in Fiction
From Sender Unknown?
The window had been passed by several times before the corner of my eye locked on to something out of place. The hairs on my body rose to a point of brittleness, creating an itchy pain I had pushed from my memory.
By Whitney Theresa June4 years ago in Fiction
Rough Cut
It was a suspicious package wrapped in brown paper screaming to be opened, until I saw the address. Simply put, it was the final chapter that I knew would arrive one day and this was apparently that one day. I had been waiting for years to read it. But now that it was here, did I really want to open it? That question would become a see-saw of emotions. While it had been placed into the mailbox just in time for a break, I would be leaving a necessary task for the dreaded task of opening that box. I know that prying into the box would conclude the story written long before I was born.
By Verna K Gunderson4 years ago in Fiction
PurgaStories
Jimmy Fenton sat in his work cubicle scrolling aimlessly through his social media feed. Jimmy was a journalist at a mediocre news station and hadn’t contributed much during his time there. He longed for the chance to catch a big break and find that life changing news story that would finally make him visible to his colleagues. As he scrolled past countless memes, faked food hacks and subscription service advertising, he came across an ad that grabbed his attention.
By Ryan Barbin aka “Dirt”4 years ago in Fiction
Packages
Skyler held the white Amazon package in his hands gingerly staring at the name on the package: Sharon Jones. It had only been a week since he had lost his wife, but the packages kept rolling in. Skyler imagined by the weight and size of it that it probably contained some kitchen gadget he had no use for. His gut seemed to churn and his heart dropped thinking about how many more packages would show up over the next few weeks donning her name. Packages intended to turn their average, newly purchased home into a home mimicking her pristine Pinterest boards.
By Sarah Ely4 years ago in Fiction
Monsieur Death
A knock on my door woke me. I hadn’t even realized I was sleeping. Stupid humans, always wasting their time on useless things. I paused on my way to the door, thinking back. I couldn’t remember what sleep had been like. Alright, that may have been a bit scary. I shook off the feeling and opened the door. An older blond woman stood there, smiling so much it must have hurt her face.
By And I am Nightmare4 years ago in Fiction
Monsieur Death
We had only been talking about twenty minutes when my phone rang. “One sec.” I told him. I made a face. “Mom.” I explained.
By And I am Nightmare4 years ago in Fiction
Monsieur Death
We finished Phantom of the Opera around noon, and a wondered if he had lunch ready. But he didn’t say anything, and I didn’t say anything and we sat there in awkward silence until I finally broke it with saying:
By And I am Nightmare4 years ago in Fiction