You stumble into the kitchen, covered in sweat. Mind racing. Heart thumping. Christ, could he have followed me here? You think. How did he even find me? A moment passes. One thing is certain. He’s not here now. Your stomach rumbles. Even someone in your position has to eat. Your refrigerator door cries as you…
“Our church is no more. Our arrogance and ignorance brought forth our destruction. We are all that’s left of the once glorious church. Christianity now relies on us to survive.” -Pope Pius IX, addressing the Magisterium in the ruins of St. Peter’s Sqaure All Hallow’s Eve – 1856 The hollow autumn wind brushed through the…
A homeless man is sitting on a park bench. You are jogging. As you jog up to him, he holds his hand out and asks for change, you jog on past, pretending that you can’t hear him over your iPod. Feeling guilty, you stop. You reach into the pocket of your running shorts for a…
The trading ships had arrived in Venice from Kaffa only two days ago. The summer solstice had come and past and now the days were hot and heavy with humidity. The piers were alive with the sound of activity and excitement. I could smell the tang of varnished wood , the stale odor of stagnating…
Day 1: Today things started to get strange. Before I elaborate, I need to give some back-story. About two weeks ago I got back from fall vacation. For the first week, my friend Owen was not at school. He didn’t answer my texts, calls, and as far as I know was not on any social…
Sanity is the ancient lie, it’s a lie old as consciousness. Sanity is our imagined common denominator, that nonexistent place we are said to converge. Insanity is as real as anything else. Consider what goes on in the privacy of your mind. How often does reality cease to measure up? How often does the mystic…
Ever since I can remember, the moment I fall asleep, I ‘wake up’ stuck in my body, unable to move, unable to sleep. The only thing I know that will wake my body up is my alarm clock in the morning, which is set to a ridiculously loud volume and, though I expect it to…
The night seemed relatively calm, promising rain later on. The clouds were dark and had been carrying their burden the entire day. Rob hoped the storm would pass over, or they would be able to make it through. His stomach rumbled hungrily, and his eyes couldn’t stay open any longer. Micah wasn’t interested in driving…
Finally, after a day of boring canoeing and fishing I get to go to sleep. I can’t believe I got dragged along on this camping trip. I take one last look at the sky before I go into the tent, I can see through the trees that there’s a full moon, but it looks like…
On a cold, windy winter evening, I sat at home, rapidly typing away on my computer. I had set up a rather quaint little blog for myself, and it was getting pretty popular. My latest post was discussing gender equality, or rather inequality. You know, it’s pretty hard to be a woman. The constant catcalling…
I walked into the bed and breakfast tired as ever. First I entered the bathroom, turned on the light and washed up. I was too exhausted to turn on the rest of the lights in the room so it was a little dark. My bag was thrown under what appeared to be a full length…
It was a pretty simple program.A collaborative effort between me and another user on a forum I like to frequent. We like to help one another with all sorts of projects, personal and professional. He and I were both freelance software developers, and made a good team. He went by Mot, I assumed that it…
In the late ’40s of the last century, after a decade of private research involving experiments with binaural beat brainwave frequencies, extrasensory cognition, and rare extracts of a South American vine, Dr. Tomás Roessner perfected a technique whereby one could actually intrude into the psyche and “see” another’s thoughts. Despite having exhaustively documented his rigorous…
I think it should go down in law that all small towns need an urban legend. Nothing ushers in excitement to a dull, lackluster town like a good ol’ fashioned ghost tale. Or monster tale, or murder tale, et cetera. My quaint little town of Nahant, Massachusetts holds around a little over 3,000 people, and…
One morning my family and I went to my grandparent’s house in Mississauga. My sister and I always used to play in their large backyard which overlooked a sprawling ravine. I was especially excited today because my sister and I had planned a hike down the ravine before lunch. The climb down was quite a…
As astronomers began to dig deeper into the cosmos, a puzzling question arose. In a universe as vast and ancient as our own, why can’t we find any signs of other intelligent life? We have already discovered a number of Earth-like planets, and it’s estimated that there are thousands if not millions of planets throughout…
Curiosity is quite simply a bitch, but me being me, adventurous to the point I become stupid, let my curiosity roam free. I should probably give you some background first, so you understand what I’m about to tell you better. I live in a quiet and seemingly perfect town in Connecticut. What originally was a…
To whom it may concern: If you are receiving this letter I must first urge you to not throw it away. This is not an advertisement, this is not a scam. We want no money from you at all. This letter was sent to you solely for your benefit. According to our statistics if you…
The past week has found the highway blanketed in snow. I keep forgetting to put on my snow tires. I should pin it on my fridge someday. Usually, I take Highway 22 as my route going home but due to recent weather conditions, I’m afraid I’ll have to take the old scenic route which carves…
Please do not come looking for me upon reading this letter, for the likelihood of my death is now more certain than it ever was before. I refused to heed your warnings about pursuing the Pyli Scripts, and now I understand why. They are after me, Arbuckle, and when they find me, any crumb of…
I huffed and puffed under my breath as I stared into God’s Mouth. I felt like the Big Bad Wolf ready to interrupt the innocent little pigs as they hurriedly fortified their makeshift homes. I grinned at this thought and then turned my head to look for Margaret. She was a couple of feet down…
There is a moment each leap year, at exactly three minutes past three on the morning of February twenty-ninth. If you possess the courage, await that moment in darkened room, with no other present. At that moment, the darkness will deepen. If you were to hold you hand directly before your face, you would not…
When most people are asked, “who’s your favorite actor?”, someone recognizable and beloved is almost always said. I’ve heard people say old favorites like Tom Hanks, up and comers like Daniel Kaluuya, and I’ve even heard Pauly Shore as an answer. Unfortunately for me, the man I work for is never mentioned. He’s only spoken…
There’s this famous “haunted” hotel in the Philippines. It’s named “Diplomat Hotel.” I am not sure about it’s history since word-of-mouth information tend to distort real history. All I know is that it was an old seminary for Jesuit priests about a decade ago, just about when the city (Baguio City) was founded. It was…