Tag: literally stories

All Stories, sunday whatever

Sunday Whatever – No Mean Mercy by Geraint Jonathan

literallystories2014

Take this down, Brother Slycup.

Beggars can be choosers. The procedure is very simple. Apply to the skin a generous layer of fatty soap, sprinkle with vinegar, wait a minute or two, and, tantara: there it is – as any mirror to hand will confirm: your face is a veritable mass of yellow pustules. Then all you need do is develop a graveyard wheeze, adopt a drool, take up trembling, swivel the ol’ eye and speak a little bedlamese. Trust me, hearts will move, stones’ll weep.

Continue reading “Sunday Whatever – No Mean Mercy by Geraint Jonathan” →
Editor Picks, Latest News, Short Fiction

569: More Grammar Gripes

ireneallison12

Every year or so I feel obliged to make a statement on behalf of proper grammar in the English language. Before the tongue is finally killed and left to rot in the Pop Culture Wood, I feel that it is the duty of writers long acquainted with the written word to get in a few shots at the would-be murderers. The killers of language are the Usual Suspects, namely the Selfish and Lazy (from here, “Sal”).

Continue reading “569: More Grammar Gripes” →
All Stories, Humour

Smile if you’re not wearing knickers by Peter Arscott

literallystories2014

I was pleased the butcher knew my face.

For months I’ve been coming here, wanting him to look at me, to really look at me, watching the sinews in his forearm tighten with each effortless chop of the cleaver as it neatly parts a chicken’s neck from its body, or a pink cutlet from half a ribcage. He carries himself with such grace, his every move unhurried, as if the world outside, with its fuss and hurly burly, is of no concern to a man who functions by his own imperatives, and in his own time.

Continue reading “Smile if you’re not wearing knickers by Peter Arscott” →
All Stories, Fantasy, General Fiction

Are You Going to Kalamazoo? By Christopher Ananias 

literallystories2014

Tonight Jack would talk to the ghost. He took to the street. The warm wind is blowing on his face. Splash—pound—Nikes scrape the edge of a curb. Whoa that was close. He lets his mind wander down into his feet. His mind is splash-pound.

Continue reading “Are You Going to Kalamazoo? By Christopher Ananias “ →
All Stories, Crime/Mystery/Thriller, Short Fiction, Writing

Stuart by Hugh Cron – Adult Content.

gwencron

Stuart died in prison.

That is wrong,

Stuart was killed in prison. He was stabbed with a blade between his ribs.

None of these sharpened toothbrushes or pieces of wood or shards of glass, an actual knife. The investigation is ongoing. Some poor dweeb will probably lose their pension over that.

Did Stuart deserve to be murdered? Opinions vary. Some would say he was a bad guy, others would say he did what he did to survive. I suppose it depends on their involvement with him.

Continue reading “Stuart by Hugh Cron – Adult Content.” →
All Stories, Fantasy

The Old Fisherman by Joe Ducato

literallystories2014

Every night the pictures on his lampshade came to life.  Rodeo cowboys on galloping stallions threw ropes at the moon.

The boy’s sister once called him “Nutsy-Crackers” because of the strange things he was always seeing.  Later she shortened it to just Crackers.

In the middle of the night, he lifted the window (quiet as a thief) climbed out and lowered himself to the ground, praying that the weight of all the coins in his pocket wouldn’t rip through the material.  The rest of the house slept.

Continue reading “The Old Fisherman by Joe Ducato” →
Writers Reading

Writers’ Read. It’s a Mystery to me by Doug Hawley

literallystories2014

Real Ones

Dashiell Hammett is famous for The Maltese Falcon and the Thin Man Series.  Not remembered today, but Red Harvest is an example of something different from him.  It happens in Poisonville / Personville (fictionalized Butte Montana) where crime ran rampant in the street.  Most crime stories and mysteries have involved a single bad guy or a small gang.  Hammett was a leftist, but worked for the Pinkertons which were sometimes involved in strike breaking, which was an obvious conflict.  Later in life he was jailed for his beliefs.

Continue reading “Writers’ Read. It’s a Mystery to me by Doug Hawley” →
Latest News, Short Fiction

How Many Times Do We Need To Mention The Distribution Of Wealth, French Fred Is A Legend And Remember, Sean said Shhhhean!

gwencron

Well here we are at Week 568!!!

Hello there guys!

I’ve just read something that fucking disgusts me!

In Britain, the billionaires made more money last year – They made more billions.

We have people who can’t afford to feed their families and can’t heat their houses but these fuckwits have made around ten million a day between them to increase their wealth. Overall that is – Makes it a lot better, doesn’t it????

Continue reading “How Many Times Do We Need To Mention The Distribution Of Wealth, French Fred Is A Legend And Remember, Sean said Shhhhean!” →
All Stories, Fantasy

Death in Damp Bracken by Ian C Smith

literallystories2014

The Montagues’ and Capulets’ disapproval of an ill-fated union was mirrored by the opprobrium this couple aroused in their Australian families.  She was practical and ambitious while he gave imagination a free pass, a kind of poor man’s negative capability.  What he wanted to do and what others wanted him to do, were not the same.  Feeling hounded, they found work together in the U.S.  Always happiest when fleeing responsibility, the sheer glorious relief, he hadn’t faced this fact yet.  Without telling any relatives, they left their troubles all behind, or so they thought.  When the U.S. didn’t work out, visas cancelled, they crossed the Atlantic.

Continue reading “Death in Damp Bracken by Ian C Smith” →