Category: General Fiction

All Stories, General Fiction, Historical

The Sound That Nothing Makes by Alain Kerfs

literallystories2014

Stephens Island, New Zealand, January 1894

A small brown bird, mouse-like in size and attitude, tucks under clumps of wind grass, scrapes delicate ruts in moist ground. Nearby ocean spray cloaks shore rocks and humpback blows punctuate the sea surface.

A foreign sound. The bird stops, more curious than afraid, peers past grass blades. On a rocky clearing, motion. An upright creature on sturdy legs, with arms capable of lifting and pulling and throwing. More than a dozen of these creatures, different sizes, dispersing into recently erected wooden structures beneath a tall column, cloud-white, capped with a small sun that flares out into the grey mist.

Continue reading “The Sound That Nothing Makes by Alain Kerfs” →
All Stories, General Fiction

Fake by David Louden

literallystories2014

The first wrestling promoter worth a damn I worked for once told me victory happens when ten thousand hours of practice meets a moment of opportunity. Mine came at a Halloween event in 1979 when Ray Race put me over for my first singles title. Everyone pays their dues, and then everyone pays its forward. I stood behind twenty five feet of velvet curtain with the top strap Global Championship Wrestling had to offer and ran through the major moments of my forthcoming Triple Threat match we’d mapped out.

Continue reading “Fake by David Louden” →
All Stories, General Fiction

Royal visit by Deborah Thwaites

literallystories2014

The noise was like a loud noise but much louder. I jolted in my seat, sending a blur of cat scattering from my lap. Big Jemmy stayed put. His ears closed over after the great Stomp riots of ’97. He only hears blue now. His eyes remained fixed on the latest episode of Celebrity Death Camp Warden as the players moved in a grotesque mime.

Continue reading “Royal visit by Deborah Thwaites” →
All Stories, General Fiction

Penny Loafers by Connor Beck

literallystories2014

Crammed like rats, I drove our home, laden with trash, through much of the Midwest. While Mariane dreamt in the passenger seat, scrunching her half-asleep body into the shape of a ‘G.’ I could tell by the subtle way her breath swayed upon each crack in the road, she was dreaming of her.

Continue reading “Penny Loafers by Connor Beck” →
All Stories, General Fiction

Jerry’s Last Problem by Jennifer Maloney

literallystories2014

The Doctor is cleaning up Jerry’s mess, as usual. With a grunt, he bends, grabs the dead boy beneath the armpits and drags him toward the stairs. While the Doctor works, Jerry hides in an attic bedroom of their mind, eyes closed, fingers in his ears.

Continue reading “Jerry’s Last Problem by Jennifer Maloney” →
All Stories, General Fiction

Scans by Edward Lee

literallystories2014

Contains references some readers may find distressing, please refer to the tabs at the bottom of the page.

In the library I see a woman photocopying ultrasound scans. At first, I am sure not sure what she is doing, though I can clearly see her take the scan out of a purple folder and place it on the screen of the photocopier, before closing it and moving across to the screen to input her instructions.  It is obvious that she is photocopying the scan – after my eyes recognise the black and white image, they then pass over the slight swell of her stomach, the glance more instinct than choice – and yet, it takes a few seconds for the obviousness of it to make sense in my thoughts; there is also a suggestion that I am not thinking of them correctly, that ‘ultrasound scans’ is not the correct terminology, but as to what it might be I do not know right at that moment, and this misnaming is, I believe, contributing to the delay of the realisation.

Continue reading “Scans by Edward Lee” →
All Stories, General Fiction

Sleepwalking Visions by Tim Frank

literallystories2014

I’m sleepwalking at night again but my wife sleeps so deeply she can’t hear my cries for help. Tonight, I’m balancing on a boat on the choppy waters of the Atlantic Ocean. I hear hungry seagulls gliding through the salty air. “You can’t make me jump!” I call out to the fleets of ships and submarines that have surrounded me. “I will never give in.”   When I crack my head on the medicine cabinet and cotton buds fall to my feet like confetti, I realise the cold tap from the bath is overflowing and I’m standing on the weighing scales, waving a loo roll at the mirror.

Continue reading “Sleepwalking Visions by Tim Frank” →
All Stories, General Fiction

Working the Dirt by J Bradley Minnick

literallystories2014

Mighty Broom left the first notch in the dirt at three that afternoon: the first of hundreds of parallel lines exactly five feet apart across the width of the halls that started in front of the Janitors Closet and ran the length of Weatherspeake High. Wilson never had to measure the rows. He had the five-foot knack.

Continue reading “Working the Dirt by J Bradley Minnick” →