Category: Fantasy

All Stories, Fantasy

The Lingering Regrets by Michael Bloor

literallystories2014

Considered objectively, Alan wasn’t really one of the bad guys. Provided it didn’t cost him significant quantities of time and/or cash, he was okay about helping out unfortunate relatives, friends, or neighbours. He had a soft spot for rough sleepers, as long as they weren’t hallucinating. He claimed, with some justice, that when he was working he’d worn a hole in the arse of a perfectly good suit sitting on committees, but he remained willing to do the odd shift of volunteering here and there.

Continue reading “The Lingering Regrets by Michael Bloor” →
All Stories, Fantasy

In a Flash by Marcus Delmont

literallystories2014

Diane tilted her head back to find the top of the slide, one hand shading her eyes, and thought: that’s very high up for an eight-year-old alone.

“Mom, can I go?”

Her eyes followed the slide’s downward arc, its twists and loops. Bodies zipped through the tube. Muffled cries reverberated outward to the ground. Her chest tightened.

Continue reading “In a Flash by Marcus Delmont” →
All Stories, Fantasy

The Beggar’s Stone by Peter Biles

literallystories2014

The prisoner woke up in his cell on the edge of the sea early in the morning. He was to die this day, as planned. The sun was white as it rose over the water, and the sky was empty, and the horizon was a pale rind speckled with distant ships. Today there was a white stone on the sill of the barred window that had not been there before; an old beggar who’d been walking by, shouting nonsense about the end of the world, had put it there. The prisoner, a young man who did not want to die and believed he was justified in the murder he committed, did nothing with the stone and thought nothing of it until the early afternoon, when it grew hot in the cell and when he knew his hour of death was nigh. He was to be hanged with three other criminals who were way worse men than he. The guard dropped off a pot of delicious beef stew and a loaf of wheat bread, which he devoured, and then he began to pace the stone floor back and forth. “It can’t be,” he said, and screamed. “I am an innocent man! An innocent man!”

Continue reading “The Beggar’s Stone by Peter Biles” →
Fantasy, All Stories

Judy Triton by Brian Stumbaugh

literallystories2014

The knock came just as she was serving dessert.

Actually, the knock came after she had navigated the one step down to the dining room from the Vrbo’s kitchen, a tray of warm crème brûlées balanced in her hands. She had just cleared the table— two large dinner plates awash with steak drippings, stained red globs of uneaten mashed potatoes— and had given them a quick rinse before moving on to the final course. Tony had remained at the table, leaning back and scratching his belly. He had even let out a soft belch, which made her smile. She pulled the tray out of the refrigerator, but not before checking the freezer for her emergency stash, her “just in case” stores. Then she had gotten to work torching the custard with her little portable blow torch. When she finished, she paused for just a second to admire the crusty layer of toasted sugar, then hoisted the tray and headed for the dining room. She went deliberately, putting one foot in front of the other. When she reached the table she set the ramekins down at their places, and that’s when the rapping had started.

Continue reading “Judy Triton by Brian Stumbaugh” →
All Stories, Editor Picks, Fantasy, Humour, Short Fiction

The Hydra of Lambistan by Leila Allison

ireneallison12

-1-

I wake up every morning, face on desk, at the wee Sinatra hour of three. I’m surrounded by empty jugs and mounded ashtrays that look like Beaver dams. One thing I have going for me is I do not suffer from hangovers as badly as the Boss, her boozy hand heebie-jeebies (man oh man how those things do the St. Vitus boogaloo) will sometimes schedule me for 3:02, but mostly I come to on the hour.

Continue reading “The Hydra of Lambistan by Leila Allison” →
All Stories, Fantasy

The Duster by Joe Ducato

literallystories2014

Powder flowed from his cupped hands into the pouch.  Samson had a satisfied mind after finding so many wild orchids in The Shallow Field.  Some even grew from the crack in Split Rock – and the string of many sunny afternoons that followed made for great drying.  It had all been a delightful surprise.

Continue reading “The Duster by Joe Ducato” →
Fantasy, Humour, Short Fiction

The Oz Solution by Leila Allison

ireneallison12

-1-

The Lernaean Hydra of Greek mythology has no set number of heads. Whatever the word in ancient Greek meaning “a buttload” applies to the noggin total of the belligerent Sea Monster, whose dispatch was the Second Labor of Hercules. But the previously Romanized version of the Hydra that recently arrived in Saragun Springs has just four heads–Vicki Beckious, Nikki Nolteious, The Situationious and Zippy-the-Pinheadious–but considering that they tend to talk at the same time, four is enough.

Continue reading “The Oz Solution by Leila Allison” →
All Stories, Fantasy, General Fiction

Blow, Bonny Breeze by Stephen Silvester

literallystories2014

The big man filled the doorway of The Smack Inn, blocking out the insistent daylight. ‘Samuel Root?’ he boomed into the gloom.

A wiry little figure leapt up from a table in the depths of the room and scurried forward, hand outstretched. ‘Ned Polley?’ The other grunted. ‘Welcome. How was the journey?’

‘Long. Hard on the arse.’

‘Ale will see to that.’ Root waved and slopping tankards appeared. ‘Parents well?’

‘Mother same as ever. Father won’t see fifty again but good for a few years yet.’

‘Sorry about your uncle.’

‘Took me an age to read your letter.’

Continue reading “Blow, Bonny Breeze by Stephen Silvester” →
All Stories, Fantasy, General Fiction

Spice of Life and Death by M Bridger

literallystories2014

“I reckon that lass Lyra or Lula or something was well into me, I got her number, I might get lucky later this week if I can see her again”, Kyle smiled, slapping his closest friend on the shoulder.

“Yeah and pigs might fly! Catch you Monday Kyle”.

Continue reading “Spice of Life and Death by M Bridger” →
All Stories, Fantasy

The Akelarre  by Matias Travieso-Diaz

literallystories2014

 

There is nothing more dangerous than a woman who dances.
Pablo Agüero and Katell Guillou, Akelarre (screenplay)

On the night of her sixteenth birthday, Garazi was awakened from deep sleep by an apparition, an ill-defined smoky shade with wavering contours that appeared at the foot of her bed. The intruder spoke in a flat voice that lacked warmth or inflection: “Get up, Garazi, for you are no longer a child, and come to celebrate your passage into womanhood!”

Continue reading “The Akelarre  by Matias Travieso-Diaz” →