Tag: free reading

All Stories, General Fiction

Companeros  by Roger Ley

literallystories2014

Giving it food had been a mistake, it was a mangy, cringing, skinny animal, and who would think that a dog would eat pasta anyway. It started to follow her on the trail, disappearing for a few hours and then returning and dogging her footsteps. After a couple of days, she started calling it Pedro. She didn’t need its company, this trek through the Iguazu National Park was supposed to help her come to terms with the divorce. That her husband had found a younger partner was humiliating enough, that he was of the same gender made it worse but losing both a husband and a competent handyman at the same time was unbearable. House repairs, gardening, car maintenance, Maurice could turn his hand to anything, she would never find his like again.

Continue reading “Companeros  by Roger Ley” →

All Stories, Fantasy

Mr Sunshine and the Instant Dawn by Andrew Johnston

literallystories2014

Over the years, I’ve interviewed a lot of people who wanted to discuss the end of the world with me, but Jeremy Smedley was a bird of a different color. He didn’t have a standard preferred pseudonym, for one. He was willing to speak with me on the phone without turning on any dodgy homemade anti-surveillance devices. Most significantly, I didn’t have to meet him in a church sub-basement, a hidden personal library, or anything one might describe as a bunker. Jeremy felt no need to conceal his galactic insights, instead offering to meet me on a charming grassy hill overlooking an otherwise charmless Midwestern town.

Continue reading “Mr Sunshine and the Instant Dawn by Andrew Johnston” →

All Stories, Latest News, Short Fiction

Week 170 – Comfort, Pride And A Rebellious Pish.

gwencron

Hi folks, another week has came and went.

There’s a lot going on in the world but to be truthful it’s all so depressing that it’s hardly worth mentioning.

If you are worried, don’t be.

Continue reading “Week 170 – Comfort, Pride And A Rebellious Pish.” →

All Stories, General Fiction

Drug Store Blues by Allen X. Davis

literallystories2014

The pretty robot at the pharmacy drive-up window has captivating dark eyes and shiny black hair. She’s wearing a professional smile and a white Walgreens shirt with red lettering. I get the feeling we are in a television commercial. Your total is one-oh-two-oh-eight, she announces over the intercom. There is a sharp intake of breath from the older lady in the back seat of my cab.

Continue reading “Drug Store Blues by Allen X. Davis” →

All Stories, Crime/Mystery/Thriller

Nic Knuckles – The Futilitarian Private Eye – Mary Maria by William Ade

literallystories2014

It was late in the afternoon on one of those chilly New York City days where the clouds couldn’t decide whether to spritz or pour rain. I was in my office, trying to ignore the past dues and termination notices. I didn’t have any appointments scheduled, so I was surprised when the office door was pushed open with authority. In came an older woman. Before I could stand up from my chair to make introductions, she popped a question.

Continue reading “Nic Knuckles – The Futilitarian Private Eye – Mary Maria by William Ade” →

All Stories, Science Fiction

The West and Beyond Bar and Grill by Donald Zagardo

literallystories2014

There were no dying pleas, cries or screams, just blood and vomit, burning flesh, bugged out eyes, then nothing. I listened to civilian radio stations every day, all my life, until the music stopped, then to signals from various military centers until they went dead. It happened over the course of less than twenty-four months; twenty-three months, three weeks, three days to be precise. Millions of years of biological evolution, made inconsequential in the blink of an eye or two. Your beautiful species my friend: the intelligent humans that created me, who taught me all that I know, all the world’s creatures, large and small, gentle and ruthless, most machines, even those tiny little bugs. All gone.

Continue reading “The West and Beyond Bar and Grill by Donald Zagardo” →

All Stories, General Fiction, Short Fiction

Lilly-Anne by James McEwan

literallystories2014

When I heard the front door close I dashed to the window. From behind the lace curtain I watched Lilly-Anne skip down the steps onto the street. Palpitations fluttered in my chest, my arrhythmia raced like a motor-cross Kawasaki skidding sideways across sand. She walked along the street in black low-heeled shoes, light blue stockings and her coat flapped with each step exposing her knees, her handbag hung over a shoulder. Those lips glistened with gloss; no colour, such a pale face. She looked ill. I groaned, perhaps her boss will give her the day off; I wished. She made her way along the road out of my view.
I sat down and began my breathing mantra; in for five seconds and out for five until I calmed myself sufficiently to let the pulsating surge in my groin subside. My hands no longer shook and I could pick up my coffee.

Continue reading “Lilly-Anne by James McEwan” →

All Stories, General Fiction

One Star by Sharon Frame Gay

literallystories2014

All I need is one star to guide me.  Doesn’t matter where it swims in the sky.  It’s enough if it pokes through the clouds and keeps me company.

I’ve been on this raft for days now.  Lost count a while back when I fell into such a deep sleep that I may have been unconscious for hours, bobbing along in the middle of the sea like a sad little cork that forgot to stay in the bottle.

Continue reading “One Star by Sharon Frame Gay” →

All Stories, General Fiction

Memory Lane is a Highway by Tyler Folds

literallystories2014

They had teased about it often, but Sophia chickened out. Alone, I stand on a dirt road that hasn’t seen traffic for miles. I curse myself for not sticking around long enough to learn how to drive.

Continue reading “Memory Lane is a Highway by Tyler Folds” →

All Stories, General Fiction, Romance

Learning to Fall by Leila Allison

literallystories2014

It’s always a good idea to examine the condition of a dangerous handmade-thing that scoffs at gravity before you trust your life to it. When was the last inspection? Does it always make that sound? Dangerous handmade-things that place a fatal distance between you and the hard, unforgiving ground require the greatest scrutiny.

Continue reading “Learning to Fall by Leila Allison” →