Tag: despair

Short Fiction

Open Window by Tim Frank

literallystories2014

Edmund’s wife, Wendy, had been unconscious in hospital for weeks, but no doctor could diagnose her illness so they discharged her to recover at home, with Edmund as her sole carer.

As Wendy lay still as a mannequin in her queen-sized bed, drawing in short imperceptible breaths, summer flooded in from the streets outside. Sun splashed through their bedroom window, as leaves on trees glowed a robust green, and birds danced on the tips of trembling boughs.

Continue reading “Open Window by Tim Frank” →
All Stories, General Fiction

Cold by Mason Koa

literallystories2014

The wind played music with my bones. Like a xylophone.

“It’s cold in hell,” he said, “Let me tell you.” He shook his head, taking another puff from his cigarette. He throws it into the ocean and it fizzles out into the darkness. Hands in pockets, overcoat. Leaning on the sidebeam, night blows past.

Continue reading “Cold by Mason Koa” →
All Stories, General Fiction

Sanctuary by Tim Frank    

literallystories2014

 You could say I’m an unhappy guy. I just want to blot out the days, smoke away the nights and dump my beloved books into the ocean. Books used to be my everything, but now they simply bore me – I can hardly read a paragraph my senses are so dulled. I have better days, it’s true, because I’m essentially free. I can choose when I wake – I have no alarms, no commitments, but sleeping in my car, that I’ve called home since the divorce, can be a real drag.

Continue reading “Sanctuary by Tim Frank    “ →
All Stories, General Fiction

Abyss by Emil Birchman

literallystories2014

Yumi Suzuki decided she’d throw herself in front of a train on a warm, sunny day. She came to this conclusion sitting in her apartment, watching the weather forecast for the next week. It rained for the last five days, and if the forecast was correct – she’d see the sun tomorrow.

Continue reading “Abyss by Emil Birchman” →
All Stories, General Fiction

Room For the Dead, Room For the Damned by Ella Paul

literallystories2014

“You’re a kid,” he says, and his voice is so absolute that it leaves no room for argument.

Meesha isn’t sure she’d be able to argue even if he sounded uncertain. Her eyes are blank, her lips locked in that little downward position that everyone claims neutral (that everyone knows is actually a faint frown), and as she stands in front of this leathery heap of a man, she can’t bring herself to care that she’s been caught.

Continue reading “Room For the Dead, Room For the Damned by Ella Paul” →
All Stories, Science Fiction

Cryobaby by Sean Burke

literallystories2014

“Got any juice?” I asked Stewart when he pulled up. 

“Hello to you too,” he said, as his helmet collapsed into his collar.  He pulled a charge off his vest and tossed it to me. 

“How long she been up there?” he asked, shielding his eyes against the hazy, setting sun as he looked to the top of the bridge.

Continue reading “Cryobaby by Sean Burke” →
All Stories, Science Fiction

Fragments by Jennie Boyes

literallystories2014

We sometimes remember that other universe. It comes to us in dreams, intangible and unattainable, an echo that rebounds on the parts of us that grieve our old form. We were once a deity of the heavens, too ancient and vast to consider the lives of mortals. The cosmos was our domain. We walked between planets and hurled asteroids at moons. The feuds and petty wars with our god-kin could supernova a sun. How mighty we were, and how foolish in our arrogance.

Continue reading “Fragments by Jennie Boyes” →
All Stories, General Fiction

American Nightmare by Yash Seyedbagheri

literallystories2014

I outline payment schedules. Credit card bills, student loans, power, utilities. I draw up grocery budgets and lists, in my elegant cursive, something I’ve relearned in recent months. More onions, less TV dinners, and Diet-Pepsi, containing more late-night sleeplessness. A tomato or two, if possible. Some granola bars, even.

No beer, save for the occasional six-pack of Coors Light.

Continue reading “American Nightmare by Yash Seyedbagheri” →
All Stories, Crime/Mystery/Thriller

The Weight of Return by Marco Etheridge

literallystories2014

Darryl slid three quarters into the vending machine and weighed his options. They weren’t all that good. The overnight Greyhound had carried him across a state line, which violated of his parole. If his tight-ass parole officer got wind of it, Darryl would be on his way back to a cell in Lucasville. First off, don’t get spotted by the cops, same as any day for an ex-con. Second, don’t get spotted by the bad guys. That left having breakfast and finding the girl. He reached for the chrome handle and pulled. A snickers bar tumbled into the sheet metal tray.

Continue reading “The Weight of Return by Marco Etheridge” →