Tag: short stories

All Stories, Horror

Facing a Garden Full of Faces by Ashlie Allen

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The garden has faces.  No one has seen them except me. At night, after serving my boss and his family dinner, I sneak outside to see the Dracula orchids, the Coxcombs and Proteas. “My friends!” I bow to them. “Forgive me. Everyone is in a bad mood. I too am in negative spirits.” The Dracula callas started speaking recently. One night they told me I looked like a corpse who wept himself to death.” I went to my assigned room, looked in the mirror and watched my tears turn yellow in the lamplight.

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All Stories, General Fiction

The Lightning King and Lucky Girl by David Henson

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Fred Furk is mowing the grass when all asudden KABOOM! Next thing he knows, he’s spread out on his back clean across the yard. Lucky Girl, his Black Lab, is licking his face, and Doris is standing over him. She’s moving her lips, but he don’t hear a thing. Then it all goes dark again.

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All Stories, Latest News, Short Fiction

Week 138 – Peas, Classification And Funny Tasting Orange Juice.

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Yet again I start with our wishes going to innocents caught up in madness!

Barcelona has become another victim of a sickness we are struggling to cure or even cope with.

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All Stories, Science Fiction

Third Closest to the Sun by Thomas Wadsworth

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Daniel crawls through a mixture of mud and clothes. The pungent smell of jet fuel and acrid smoke fills and burns his nostrils. There is something else in the air. Something he tastes as he breathes: a human smell. He spits, before he continues to crawl past open suitcases and broken, twisted pieces of metal. He hears the sound of a gas issuing from somewhere, the crackle of a fire, and then a woman’s moan. He looks over his shoulder at the fuselage. He hears another moan. He stands, turns, and staggers back to the wreck.

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All Stories, Crime/Mystery/Thriller

The Suit by Marc “Scott” Summers

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Eric Ward was never the same man when he put on the suit. It was a three-piece, black pinstripe with a notched lapel. A silk kerchief, deep crimson, sat Presidential in the jacket pocket with a tie to match. The Homberg on his head carried the proper tilt. He never checked the mirror. It just felt right. This was a suit for winners. A deal closer. That’s what his father would have said: a suit you wear when you want to Get Things Done.

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All Stories, General Fiction

Forbidden Voice by Nyx Bean

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Her name was Aika and Christian had been obsessed with her the moment she transferred to Willowbrook High. In the first week, he managed to hear every hint and rumour there was to know: her second name was Hisama, people were sure she’d moved straight from Japan, and she hadn’t spoken a word to anyone. In the beginning, students thought maybe Aika wasn’t great with English, but those looking to cheat in class saw she wrote fluently. In fact, she appeared to be some form of prodigy, always having the correct answers. During lunch hours Aika spent her time in the library with her head ducked down over a Japanese language novel, and she made a point of being in the classroom before anybody else. Her physical appearance only served to magnify these oddities; her skin was pale, and her long hair hung down to her waist. Kids took to calling her Samara like the girl from that creepy horror film, The Ring. Except never to her face. Strangely, in a school notorious for its bullies, Aika maintained a wall around herself.

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All Stories, Latest News

Week 137 – Characters, Truths And A few Lies.

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This is a bit of a follow on from last week. I mentioned how great the character of Tom Thorne was. That got me thinking about other great characters. Rebus made me read so many of Ian Rankin’s books. And to be fair some of the ones that dealt with politics or corporate matters weren’t always my thing but John Rebus made me read on.

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All Stories, General Fiction

The Grave Digger’s Lemonade by Michael Grant Smith

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Cliff’s grandfather built Hook Run Farm on forty-two acres thirty miles east of the city, a half-hour’s easy drive most days. Now, when dirty winds shifted at night to flee the west, Cliff lay beneath beige-gray sheets and sniffed a once forgotten childhood memory: a decaying mouse he’d found inside a discarded soda pop bottle. Borne atop the newly bloating stink of Grandpa’s barn and paddocks, this recollected scent visited every evening. Rich, sweet, corrupt, ageless.

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All Stories, Latest News

Week 136 – Novels, Shorts And Accomplished Acting

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Here we are again. Another seven days have flown by and we are into Week 136.

Gwen gave me my inspiration this week when she bought me a Mark Billingham novel. I’ve read most of them. ‘Scaredy Cat’ was a superb book and Tom Thorne is a brilliant character! But I’m finding it very difficult to read a full novel at the moment. I reckon it’s all to do with the vast amount of short stories that we’ve read. (Nik is the man for the sites statistics!)

It is a totally different discipline. Not only writing but reading. Shorts have to grab you quicker than an enthusiastic lady of the night. Novels on the other hand need to groom you…Well you know where I was going with that!

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