Category: Short Fiction

Crime/Mystery/Thriller, Short Fiction

Nice Young Lady Vanishes by Simon Nadel

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You haven’t been at work. That’s very unlike you. It’s been a few days. No, weeks. They couldn’t agree on how long but they all agreed it’s extremely uncharacteristic. You’re a model employee, always at your desk by nine, always there until at least five. You’ve been at your job for a few months. No, it’s been a year. A middle-aged HR manager named Dragwood (I didn’t ascertain whether it was his first or last name) looked through a file. He shook his head in disbelief. Wow, five years. She seemed like such a nice young lady, the man they called Dragwood said, like you I’m sure. I’m not at all nice, I didn’t say out loud.

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All Stories, General Fiction, Short Fiction

What We Discard by Gil Hoy

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On Wednesdays, I take my trash down to the curb. You have to wait until 3 pm to bring it down. It gets picked up on Thursday mornings at around 8 am. Our setup is a lot like other New England towns. There’s a blue bin for recyclables, a black bin for regular trash and a brown bin for yard waste.

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All Stories, Editor Picks, General Fiction, Short Fiction

Week 498: Not So Instant Karma; Two Special Announcements and the Week That Is

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The Wheel Grinds Patiently

In 1968, at the age of nine, I allowed a classmate we will call “Louise Haas” (not her real name, but close) to get a lecture for something I did. The offense was cussing. It was recess and I had told someone to “eat shit” or something of that third-gradely nature, unaware that the playground monitor was in earshot.

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Literally Reruns, Short Fiction

Literally Reruns – 4 Bars by Hugh Cron

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One of the great benefits of the rerun feature is that it can keep a story alive. We often have a story as a rerun more than once–with a year or so between minimum. Such is the way it is with Four Bars by Hugh Cron. It is one of his very best and it is extremely intricate and personal and always worth visiting.

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Latest News, Short Fiction

Week 497 – Another For Leila, Like, Like…Like! And Plenty More Came.

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Week 497 – Well who would have thought it!

Probably anyone who read last week’s Number 496!

Before I begin, I need to send some well deserved plaudits to our very own Leila. You see, the holy grail of the comments world is getting over thirty. A writer a while back managed thirty three. I wish I could remember what story it was Nik wrote that gave him a thirty odd. As far as I can remember, these are the only two who had managed to achieve this. But with Leila’s brilliant post last week, she has, up until now, amassed a mind-blowing forty four comments. (Probably more by the time this is published!) Between Leila and Tom Sheehan, they hold most site records.

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All Stories, Editor Picks, General Fiction, Latest News, Short Fiction

Week 496: End of Days Jobs

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Walter Orthmann died at age one-hundred-two this month. He holds the known world record for most years working for one employer. Mr. Orthmann labored at a Brazilian textile plant from 1938 to 2022; from age sixteen to an even hundred. Eighty four years.

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All Stories, General Fiction, Short Fiction

Heirloom by Natalia Pericchi Paga

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There are pieces of the past I keep on her behalf. I tie my hair in a bun and start humming a song while I concentrate on lining my lips. The kids are asleep, the dishwasher is working, the counter is wiped, the door is locked. I am getting ready to talk to my grandmother over Zoom. Preparing to reconnect. I haven’t seen her in a while. When I think of her,  I remember the cigarette smell, the afternoons sitting on her lap while she watches T.V., the feeling of her long, red nails running gently through my back, up and down. I remember her evening routine.   

   

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All Stories, Short Fiction, sunday whatever

Sunday Whatever: The Last Man on the Island by Mick Bloor

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Another Sunday treat in the form of an essay from the keyboard of Mick Bloor. Mick is so knowledgeable and this comes through in his stories which flow beautifully and record the passing of time in an easy to read and lyrical form.

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Latest News, Short Fiction

Week 495 – My Luvvieness, ‘Theatre Of Blood’ Is A Classic And A Holy Man Against The Master Was No Contest!

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Week 495 has crept up, PUNCHED us in the gut and is now LORDING it’s AUTHORITY on us!

What that means, I haven’t a clue – I just went for something a wee bit dramatic…Okay, maybe ‘pish’ is the word that I should’ve used! I reckon Vincent Price could have done that line justice though!

Anyhoo…

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Short Fiction

The Great God Pan By Arthur Machen/Auld

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Published in 1894, Arthur Machen’s novella The Great God Pan was declared immoral by many reviewers of the time. It has survived and was partially responsible for the idea of hidden dimensions behind reality. A world of monsters. HP Lovecraft was a colleague of Machen’s and they shared the same interest in that notion, which continues to influence modern day writers such as Stephen King.

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