Tag: loneliness

All Stories, General Fiction

Instead of Yelling at the Television by Charlie Rogers

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Sometimes you just want to try something new.

Last week I embarked on a project – growing a beard – and tonight, instead of trimming the Christmas tree I never bought, I trimmed my new beard. The electric clipper vibrated too close to my ear, drew blood, and snagged a chunk of my hair. So tonight I also shaved my whole head. It’s fine. Waiting to go bald is exhausting. Now bristly black stubble covers my head and I resemble a mugshot on the news.

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All Stories, Fantasy

The Womb is a Careless Weaver by Mark Benedict

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The handsome interviewer smoothed his shiny red tie. “Says you’ve worked at the docks for practically your whole life,” he said, scanning Gwen’s resume on the other side of the desk. “That your crew unloads—whoa—a hundred ships a day? Is that true?”

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All Stories, General Fiction

A Secret Study of Jack Wilkens, Drunk by Tom Sheehan

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Early evening light, what was left of it, spilled near Jack Wilkens in his one lone room in the big house, a house once flaunting and imposing in its stance, now cluttered like an old shed forgotten in a back lot, debris its main décor. Despite his reputation as the town drunk, a ne’er-do-well from the first day, an inveterate crank, there had been an instant and subtle attraction between me and the old codger, an attraction without early explanation.

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All Stories, General Fiction

Morbidity by David Flynn – ADULT CONTENT

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John Martin was hired by a funeral home.  Retired, poor, he was to be night watchman.  Alone in the former mansion, a Victorian, all he had to do was wear his uniform, walk around the four stories, including the attic and the basement, and make sure nobody had broken in.

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All Stories, General Fiction

Merry Christmas Charleston CLAWS by Leila Allison

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You can touch Shax, but only by “appointment.” First you have to establish eye contact with the old tom and at the same time make a “scratchies” gesture with your index finger. If you correctly spy permission in his imperious gold eyes, then, and only then, may you apply a “scratchie” to the surprisingly short distance between his ears. Any failure to comply with this procedure will result in a personal math system based on the number nine.

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All Stories, General Fiction

White Face by Shona Woods

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‘I need a lift you see.’

My voice strains to be heard outside Mike’s house. There’s a hot stink of ale chasing him out the door, a cigarette resting along his ear, and a slapped cheek look about his face. He looks down from his considerable height, bolstered by the chunky doorstep. He is a statue on his plinth and I’m a beggar with a crutch.

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All Stories, General Fiction

A Noise the House Makes On Its Own by Jack Caulfield

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A NOISE THE HOUSE MAKES ON ITS OWN

 

Alone with his longing, he lies down on his bed
and sings a lament; everything seems too large,
the steadings and the fields.

                                                                  Beowulf

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All Stories, General Fiction, Short Fiction

And There Was That by Adam Kluger

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She pulled out the Nuclear option and tossed it on the table like the Ace of Spades.

Nothing to do but bluff.

He then called her back and said “Let’s not ruin three lives here. Stick to the current agreement. ”

“Ok, but you better make your payments every month. Get a job at Starbucks.”

“Yes. I will,” he replied not knowing exactly how he was going to do that.

And that was it.

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