All Stories, General Fiction

Oblique Lines by Jack Coey

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It was a day he learned too much about himself when the judges announced his drawing, 1st Place, and he heard the applause, and that night at the party, drank whisky for the first time, and loved how it made him feel. He was eighteen, and in a few more years, he flunked out of community college, and kept drinking anyway, until his wife, a local girl who gave him a son, left him after tolerating more humiliation than most women, but oh, he wasn’t done yet; it took until he lost his job as a used car salesman even though if he’d been sober til noon it would have been overlooked. He had nothing left, and sat in the common, and told passerby’s that life was unfair, and the townspeople knew who he was, and his story was nothing new.

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All Stories, General Fiction

The Dope Shack by Steve Sibra

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My parents gave me a horrible name and I decided I had to get them back for it.  They were old hippies; well I guess not that old but when I was twelve they seemed pretty ancient – probably like thirty-five or maybe even forty.  To get revenge I got one of my pals to go in with me and we set out to make ourselves a dope shack; a hang-out where we did everything that was wrong and pretended that it turned out right.

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All Stories, General Fiction

Wake Up Jerry by Chris Wight

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In the beginning the days had no names. Jerry chased soap bubbles in the sunshine over freshly-cut grass, while his father strummed the guitar. Life was an easy rhythm of wonders with no conceivable end.

“Wake up, Jerry! Time for school!” his mother called one Monday morning, the same day Friday found a special place in his heart.

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All Stories, General Fiction

Shadow Chaser by Culley Holderfield


 

 

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Aleppo, Syria (AP) — Prior to joining the Tawheed Brigade in opposition to the Syrian government, Anwar Addat was a computer technician who never gave much thought to politics or religion.  That was before a barrel bomb delivered by a government helicopter ignited a fire that killed his wife and two children.  These days he goes nowhere without his AK-47 and body armor, and looks every bit the insurgent warrior he has reluctantly become.

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All Stories, General Fiction

Michael and the Final Fix by Tom Sheehan

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Michael the orderly, before it had all come down to the most private of acts, remembered his wondering if Marty and Valerie, in their lives beforehand, before the catastrophic crashes, before cement and machines and phone poles adjusted to flames around the piles of their motorcycles, he was a bull in bed, she was the puma come down to drink. Images loomed early on, lively, kicking images on how they must have cut a path to the heart of their appetites, their excitements, from what he heard up and down the entire east coast. Even pinned now to lives in rolling chairs, they evoked a fierce amount of energy, fire and brimstone, taste and distaste. Even then he thought the world of them, wanted to be god on the hill for them, Thor or Odin or a damned good magician with a damned good wand. Hell, he had the black skin; all he needed was the black hat with a few secret compartments.

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All Stories, Crime/Mystery/Thriller, General Fiction

Eddie by Hugh Cron – Adult Content

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Isn’t this place just perfect?”

Jan was talking to herself as she wandered around her new home. He hadn’t moved from the lounge.

No! It isn’t. It’s fucking yours! Your house! Your money bought the fucking house! Yours!! Everything is yours!! It will always be yours! God!! I FUCKING HATE THIS!!!

His thought induced tantrum died down. He took a breath and thought of puppies. Eddie liked puppies.

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All Stories, Crime/Mystery/Thriller, General Fiction

Passed On by Hugh Cron – Adult Content

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“Paula! Come in! Sit down beside your old Granny Lizzie… I want to tell you some things.”

“Another one of your stories gran? Are you not too tired?”

“Tired? Not now. I’ll be dead soon, so even if I wanted to sleep, I’ve not got the time. You need to hear this.”

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All Stories, Historical

The Generation We Lost by Nik Eveleigh

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All things bright and beautiful
All creatures great and small
All things wise and wonderful
The Lord God…

*

“I was told I should report here. What do you need me to do?”

“Shovels are over there, buckets are behind you. Dig or help carry it away.”

*

Each little flower that opens
Each little bird that sings…

*

“I’m sorry Mrs Jones but you’ll have to move back. They’re going as fast as they can.”

“I just need to know if Tommy is OK. He is OK isn’t he? He said he was feeling sick this morning but you know what they are like on last day of school…”

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All Stories, General Fiction, Romance

An Easy Choice to Make by Hugh Cron – Adult Content

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Mary closed the door behind her, the third chime from the grandfather clock was just a memory from her hall. She walked down the front path into the darkness. It was cold, so cold. Her gloved hand held them tightly; the reason for her torment.

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