Short Story

The Inheritance
Jenaye shot up from her sleep in a cold sweat. She had another dream about when The Sickness first happened. Jenaye was only four when The Sickness hit the people of her town. The whole country was affected by a slow chemical leak into the water supply. By the time the health organizations and government realized the leak was happening, it was too late. People were falling ill and dying at extremely fast rates. Many of those who did not die remained sick and disabled. Other survivors were able-bodied but became grossly disfigured, experiencing lesions and discoloration on their skin. But a very small minority, like Jenaye and her sister Jina, remained unaffected. Those who had paler skin were more likely to be affected by The Sickness and Jenaye’s skin was smooth and dark. She inherited it from her mother, who disappeared after volunteering for a new medical trial that everyone hoped would be successful in reversing The Sickness.
By Rukiya 5 years ago in Fiction
Lost and Found
If you wanna know what happened, I have to tell you everything, my parents taught me never to lie. I'm also not allowed to talk about this stuff though, my parents say if I keep making up stories, everyones just gonna think I’m a fibber, and I'll never have any friends. But I’m not making it up, It's not my fault my eyes and ears are broke, cuz I didn't ask them to break
By Matthew Cook5 years ago in Fiction
For Keepsake
“Such a nice day, isn’t it?” I opened my eyes, still blurry, trying to focus on the person in front of me. ‘What was that?” I responded. I was able to now see a short woman whose face was smudged with dirt, smiling at me. “I said it’s such a nice day today!” She says again with a now disturbed voice. “Yes. Yes, it is. Have a good day.” I said to her, to avoid further conversation. She skipped off and disappeared down the hill. I looked up into the sky and said to myself, “The day is not so nice. Not at all.” I looked around and saw the empty wine bottles I had drowned myself in last night. I felt out of place since I had fell asleep outside from the abandoned building that was now occupied with others who escaped from the dangers of our new world. I sat up and adjusted myself and looked up into the sky, where once I saw clear blue skies, but now the sky was dark and filled with smoke and smog. Almost everything around us was turned to ash. I felt the warmth of the tears as they fell from my eyes to my cheeks. “Breathe Lisa. Breathe.” I said while I felt myself hyperventilating. I then grabbed my necklace and held it tightly while I took deep breathes and calmed myself down. I took off my necklace and opened it, and saw the picture of my grandmother. I heard her words telling me “I’ll see you in a sec.” I smiled as I stood up to walk inside.
By Denietra Franklin5 years ago in Fiction
The Surface
Bing! Jaycee rolled over in bed and looked at the time. 7:30. Time to sign in for the morning news. She sighed and put on her virtual reality headset, which logged her in with a retina scan for the daily report. The Authority’s logo flashed over the screen before the deep voice of the Spokesman started the report. Nothing new: the surface was still uninhabitable, there was a new flavor of nutritional rations, and the stock market was up or down. She made her morning coffee, which was a nutritionally perfect version of the real thing. She had never tasted real coffee; the Descent happened before she was born.
By Emily Wright5 years ago in Fiction
Before
She’d had a family. Before. Her husband with unerring patience, a man who radiated warmth like the sun, who straightened her corners and kept her from trouble. Their daughter, a wicked dance with nitroglycerin in the form of a child, tight curls always moving, laughter ringing out from her lips day and night.
By Caty Renee5 years ago in Fiction
City of Toualuse
“Hello, welcome to Toualuse! The city of perfection. Here as citizens, you must follow this wonderful life. Now remember that citizens of Toualuse”. Once the mayor finished talking, all of us were being rushed home. I’ve always hated it here. They always make you follow idiotic laws. “No dresses for males, females must wear skirts.” It’s always a stupid message no leaving your homes past 9:00 pm.
By Samantha5 years ago in Fiction
Give Me Love or Give Me Death
Give me love or give me death give me love or give me death give me love or give me death! The boys of their small city shouted it. Not to one another, or in a unanimous chorus, but in their own minds. In the narrow, sneaking margins of their gloomy days, whatever tasks filled them now. It was true, they were all still boys. Not in the way that some people call young men just boys—these were actual boys, some no older than fourteen. Some had known a life of only this, while some had seen the world before it had gone to such hell, so many years ago now.
By Jamie Kahn5 years ago in Fiction
The Locket
The Locket By Debra Schleitwiler Without the usual traffic, the river ran clear. Amy watched from the bridge as the fish, now teeming, swam and played, their movements mimicking the ebb and flow of the current. She turned and continued walking down the freeway, empty now, the cars gone except for the occasional vehicle left abandoned in the rush to safety. As she walked, Amy checked out these forgotten cabs and trucks, looking to see if the owner was careless enough to leave the keys and fuel in the tank. Having had no luck, she continued her hike west.
By Debra L Schleitwiler5 years ago in Fiction
Ashen Dystopia
It was all she had left. The one solitary reminder that life had not always been this way. Something solid to hold on to. She knew had this one piece of herself not survived, she could easily question her entire previous existence. After all, no one talked about it anymore. The ashen and dark world before her had swallowed the memory of any previous way of life. It was that sadness and depression that swallowed more survivors than the explosion itself. She held tight though; she knew that is what they would have wanted. She could not give up, not yet. So, with vigor and strength, she rose from the ashes surrounding her makeshift camp and clasped the delicate chain securely around her neck. The heart shaped locket bounced softly against her chest with each determined step. Like a small heartbeat, it gave her the hope to move on. If this small symbol of her mother could survive maybe her brother was still alive too.
By Paige Baker5 years ago in Fiction
What Locket?
“Why are they chasing us?” She demanded between panted breaths. He whispered back, “I have no idea. I’ve been next to you the whole time!”
By JD Adler5 years ago in Fiction
Something Familiar
The wind whispered through the dark, empty trees like a warning in a foreign language. Winter was coming, and with winter comes the monsters; those horrible, retched beasts that threaten my home. Every year on the Winter Solstice they fight to get inside. They want to dismantle everything they see. No one knows why they do it, that's just how they were bred.
By Missy Roberts5 years ago in Fiction
diʔaʔ uʔxʷ
The older I get, the harder it is to remember how things used to be. The memories of my youth are so vague. It’s impossible to imagine the way it used to be, for myself, my family and my tribe. Still, I challenge my mind to recall.
By Suge Acid Hawk5 years ago in Fiction