Category: Short Fiction

All Stories, Editor Picks, General Fiction, Short Fiction

Week 366: Interstellar Demands, The Week That Was and the A to Z of Soul Crushing Coworkers

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Interstellar Demands

The ten billion dollar James Webb Space Telescope began its journey on Christmas Day. The Webb is reputedly a hundred times more powerful than the Hubble– a garage sale find, costing a mere billion and change. The giant eye is scheduled to get down to serious peering by “mid year”–which I call June. Considering how it goes with NASA and associates, I think we can safely assume that June will happen no sooner than September–or at a time when I do not start three consecutive sentences with “The.”

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Literally Reruns, Short Fiction

Literally Rerun – Unanimous by June Griffin

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An excellent friend of this site, David Henson, selected this piece by one of Literally Stories first excellent friends, June Griffin, for a rerun in 2018. I have chosen to bring it back again because, to quote the author in the comments section when it came out, “this is, hands down my favorite of my short stories.”

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Latest News, Short Fiction

Week 365 – Mr Popularity Getting Over It, Mr And Mrs Hilarity Sharing It And No Sweat For Mr Windsor Paying It.

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I read that one of my old gaffers had died a few weeks back and something that happened to me last week tied the two in.

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Short Fiction

Week 364: Fair Warning Issued by the Past, Guy Groups of Yore and an Interview With Tom Sheehan

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Lately I’ve been torn between my affection for the past and my reluctant acknowledgement of necessary progress. The remember when has a narcotic quality that gives even the crummiest situations a warmth that they did not possess when happening. I’ve been examining this peculiar human trait and so far I haven’t a clue why so many mundane and even bad objects and actions can gain nostalgic gloss after so many years have gone by. For example, behold the words on a handmade wood sign I saw everyday on my way to and from school. It hails from the Good Old Days and was nailed to a tree in front of a property that most people crossed the street to avoid:

To CP”SS”– Hitler Also took kids from their parents.

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All Stories, Fantasy, General Fiction, Short Fiction, Writing

Legs Eleven by Hugh Cron

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She smiled as she heard his wail. He’d always been delicate and wasn’t as mature as the other kids.

…But she knew that would change soon.

He ran into the room with his fist clenched out in front of him.

“Now then Jimmy, don’t cry. It’s only a bit of blood.

…And it’s worth it.”

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General Fiction, Short Fiction

In the Right Spirit? by Nidhi Srivastava Asthana

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It was a very steep slope. Even the hunters felt unsure of their steps. The thick creepers and grasses made every tread a threat since there was no way of knowing what the escapees were disturbing on the untrodden path. The deerstalkers amongst them could have been expected to feel less unsettled, but it felt strange for them to be carrying babies or half-carrying the elderly. Noi insisted on clinging to Sai. In the Asia of so long ago, much before any contact with Westerners or Christianity, ‘till death do us part’ was her own inborn resolve. Sai had no choice.

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Literally Reruns, Short Fiction

Literally Reruns – Ray’s Vision by Adam West

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I hopped into the Wayback machine and located this piece by one of Literally Stories founding Editors, Adam West. It is a keen look at the Cult of Personality and the usage of women somehow justified by a higher power of the user’s invention.

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Latest News, Short Fiction

Week 363 – Personnel Empathy, Twenty Five For Dave Henson And Fifty For Mr Jackson.

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Here we go again, another week has been and gone. I’ll be delighted to see this posting on the site as that means that I’ll be off for a week after finishing this morning.

These days off were one of those holidays that were more of a use-up than something that was planned and what is so good about them was I thought I wasn’t off for another week.

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