All Stories, General Fiction

Gordo by Ashley Earls Davis

literallystories2014

1

His eyes are fixed to the street, staring blankly at the late sunlit cars queuing over the cross. Like he’s thinking. Or perhaps he’s pissed. He lifts a full ten of stout to his pouted lips and takes two long gulps, spine arched tautly at the dust-strewn pane. Is it Rod? Or that bloke we called Doggo? I scratch my neck and try to remember his name. He lowers his glass and digs out some chips from a bowl in front of him. Dips them in tomato sauce and shoves them in his gob. Reaches for his cold one again. I grin at him. His hand movements are overly cautious. Like those of an old codger’s. Well I suppose we are both over the hill now aren’t we? Poor us bastards.

Continue reading “Gordo by Ashley Earls Davis” →
Fantasy, Humour, Short Fiction

Anita Knows by Leila Allison

ireneallison12

Act One: What Goes Up Eventually Leaves a Crater

Nowadays, the amazing comeback of the boy band, the billigits, is all the rage in Saragun Springs. The cycle of fame travels extremely fast in fantasy realms. For six weeks the boys (natives of the Springs) were flying high, superstars in the Springs’ sister realm called Other Earth; launched by the spectacular success of their debut album, meet the billigits (billigits do not use capital letters). Yet six weeks later, the band imploded, and the billigits were just another pockmark in the town of hasbeenville.

Continue reading “Anita Knows by Leila Allison” →
All Stories, sunday whatever

Sunday Whatever – John the Revelator by Dale Williams Barrigar

literallystories2014

John Lennon in his Pickwick glasses is like a character from a Charles Dickens novel, or much like Dickens himself in his concern for social justice and his endless sympathy for the literal, and figurative, orphan, outsider, and underdog. Lennon can also fruitfully be compared to perhaps the only other English writer of the nineteenth century who rivals Dickens in staying power and popularity. Like Lewis Carroll and his beloved, living Alice, Lennon’s life was all about expanding the mind, and through the mind, the heart.

Continue reading “Sunday Whatever – John the Revelator by Dale Williams Barrigar” →
All Stories, Editor Picks, General Fiction, Short Fiction

520: Don’t Touch that Dial, More Words From the TV Generation

ireneallison12

In Stephen King’s On Writing he mentions that he is among the last generation of writers who learned to read and write before television became a staple of American life (as I’m sure was the same in other developed nations as well).

Continue reading “520: Don’t Touch that Dial, More Words From the TV Generation” →
All Stories, General Fiction

Blood Lovers by Gerald Coleman

literallystories2014

At the haggard edges of New York City, the Fourth Avenue Local of the RR Line started or ended, depending upon your intentions, at Ninety-Fifth Street on the far ass-end of Brooklyn, where the city skyline was but an aspiration. You could barely see the Statue of Liberty if you were on a rooftop and knew where to look.

Continue reading “Blood Lovers by Gerald Coleman” →
All Stories, General Fiction

Dimps by Geraint Jonathan

literallystories2014

She gave me the grandest name. Bardonneche. Lovely isn’t it. Didn’t suit me at all. Or not so’s you could see. Would suit me even less now, pruned up bag of bones that I am. But I wasn’t pretty even then. Mind you, neither was she. Pretty we were not.

She was Cleanthes, I was Bardonneche. We became a team.

Continue reading “Dimps by Geraint Jonathan” →
All Stories, General Fiction

Tip Run by Alex Kellet

literallystories2014

I knew I shouldn’t have come to the tip on a Sunday, the queues are always massive. I should have come in the week, but I couldn’t be arsed. Yet another mistake I’ve made. Petrol is nearly empty as well, that’s another job I’ll have to do. Never fucking ends, does it?

Continue reading “Tip Run by Alex Kellet” →
All Stories, General Fiction

The Silence by Rehanul Hoque

literallystories2014

The dimness of the room was perfect for them both. That was how she loved it; the gentle light covered up the years that had become ingrained in her skin and the weariness in her eyes. He never asked for more light. Every Tuesday, he would drop by, say nothing, and leave a wad of money on the dresser.

Continue reading “The Silence by Rehanul Hoque” →
All Stories, General Fiction, Short Fiction

Mannish by Leila Allison

ireneallison12

-1-

I never learned how to ride a bicycle. My little sister did; during her Jesus phase Tess earned a rusty third-hander from the Presbyterians because she’d memorized fifty Bible verses. It was the sort of bike you could leave out and not care if it got stolen. Forever on foot, I excelled at heartstopping bolts across busy streets, hopping fences and creating shortcuts; I also developed a mailman’s awareness of Dogs.

Continue reading “Mannish by Leila Allison” →
Literally Reruns, Short Fiction

Literally Reruns – Loredano Carfano

ireneallison12

As anyone who reads the site knows, we publish a great deal of stuff by one or two-off writers. That is not a problem, but it sometimes results in excellent stories getting lost because the name of the author was only around for a short time.

Continue reading “Literally Reruns – Loredano Carfano” →