Tag: life and death

All Stories, General Fiction, Short Fiction

Fast Train to Burton by Matthew Roy Davey

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As he emerged from the subway, George shaded his eyes, blinking into the morning sun.  At the top of the steps he paused, glancing around the island platform.  It was busy and the benches all seemed taken.  A little further on he found a space between a middle-aged woman and a gnarled old man.  It wasn’t hard to see why the space was free, but George’s head was spinning and he had to sit down.  He nodded as the man’s yellowy grey eyes met his for an instant.  The man folded his newspaper to make space before hunching his shoulders and continuing to read.

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All Stories, General Fiction

The Fire by Nicholas Higginson

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The groaning and gibbering column of mourners stood over the small, still warm cat. All wept and shook save three. The old man, leaning slightly harder on his left side, looked only at the boy, his daughter’s son. The boy was silent also, though wore the look of the savaged. The third to keep from buckling to the emotion of the scene was the vet who had administered the barbiturates.

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All Stories, Horror, Short Fiction

The Beach by Patrick Alton

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A wall of angry clouds threatened the morning light. William Watson hoisted the last suitcase and slammed the trunk.

“Hurry! It’s almost here!” he hollered. “We need to stay ahead of it!”

He adjusted the rearview mirror, smiled confidently at the kids, and wheeled the sedan off the apron of the driveway.

“Here we go!”

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All Stories, General Fiction

 Sly Promotion by Tom Sheehan

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The conversation had gone all the way around the corner and came back to death, or getting there, Prince having the floor and saying, “I had a friend just north of Boston.” That’s how he started, a simple opener, the way he does it, with natural pauses built in and a pass at saying he was familiar with Elizabeth Bishop’s poems. Hell, we knew that from similar discussions.

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All Stories, General Fiction, Short Fiction

The Killers by Michelle Wilson

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He was a peaceful baby with a face like Buddha who grew into a sensitive toddler: enormous eyes that took in everything and missed nothing. When he fell he cried, but he always recovered after the usual spell of tears.

What a precious child, we thought. Life will be hard on him.

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All Stories, Fantasy

Kilted by Adam Lynch

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‘The yung stag stood there wi blud on his muzzle. Prostrated before him wis the defeated challenger. They didnae fight for the right to a wuman, nor the right tae land but fae the sake of fighting’s sake. A hatred bore within both stag’s hearts exploded that misty mornin. For one had been taught to hate the other and the other tae hate the first. In truth the stags both looked the same and lived the same lives. Yet one lay deed and the other munched on his flesh. The ecstasy of hate well realised pumped thru the yung stag’s veins. He felt strong and mighty and the monarch of that moment. Whit did his violence gain besides this fleeting high? Fuck all. He sustained a wound to his left shooder and part of his earlier impressive crown was snapped aff and jammed in the deed stag’s neck. Blood soaked his soft brown coat and he looked altogether minging. The meat of the deed stag was tough and manky. The yung stag was close tae boaking so he left the quiet scene of quiet violence.’

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All Stories, General Fiction

Ghost Hats by Marco Etheridge

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Grace Walsh stood on the platform of the train station, imagining the dead. The tracks and platforms of the Bahnhof were cut into a hillside. On the far side of the tracks, the earth was held back by a concrete wall fronted with rough concrete pillars. The wall was the height of two Irish women, more or less. A graveyard crowded the brink of the wall, almost spilling over onto the tracks below. Above the concrete edge, Grace could see headstones adorned with bright splotches of flowers. The Viennese tended their dead well. At least you could say that much for them.

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