Tag: Afghanistan

General Fiction, Short Fiction

We Two Soldiers by Mark Schafron

literallystories2014

I’d never been blown up before.

We were patrolling in the middle of nowhere during the late afternoon of another 110 degree day, with nobody around except a goatherd in the distance, tending a few scrawny goats. The IED must have been under a pressure plate in the road.

A slow-motion movie sort of thing is how I’d heard survivors describe explosions. Not me. One minute, I was in the Humvee’s right rear seat behind the vehicle commander, Staff Sergeant Bennett, getting my kidneys pureed on the rough road. Then I heard a roar like the sound of a passing locomotive. A white light filled the cabin like some nuclear camera flash and I felt a searing wind on my face. Then I was somersaulting through the air with my synapses flashing, envisioning how hard I might land. Pretty hard, it turns out. The ground rushed towards me, and I heard a crunch as I landed face-first in the dirt. And then the lights went out.

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All Stories, General Fiction

Death on Rotation by Brandon Nadeau

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He took a swing at me. I braced for impact as it battered my jaw.

Big mistake, I thought, as I got low, latched on, picked him up. Buddy laughed; guy was having fun with me. Fine. I spun around and took him down. 

He snatched my beard, mashed his face into mine. I tore free, pinned his arms, prepared to strike. His feral eyes widened; he knew his fate. 

I put my lips on his bare belly and blew. My son squealed and flailed, then stiffened and vibrated. Electrocuted by elation.

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All Stories, General Fiction, Humour, Story of the Week

Looking for Nipsey by dm gillis

literallystories2014

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It was still December, but Reggie had a bug up his ass about the high school reunion in June. He didn’t seem the type to me, to organise something so mundane. But he was on the line, breathing heavily, while I examined an ancient list of guests to our long ago graduation party. How the list came into my possession remains a mystery.

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All Stories, Crime/Mystery/Thriller, Historical

The Visitor’s Tale (a ghost story, after Rudyard Kipling) by Robert V. Stapleton

literallystories2014

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‘I’ve read your tales of India,’ he said, as he sat in my study at Rottingdean, ‘so I thought you might like to hear my story.’

I’d answered a knock at my front door just as my study clock struck midday, and found the man standing on the doorstep. He had looked cold, and oddly distracted.

‘Can I help you?’ I’d asked.

‘My name is Jabez Carter,’ he’d told me. ‘I’ve come a long way to see you.’

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