Silence. Silence was uncomfortable, and Amy didn’t like it. Fingers nimbly tap-tapped across black and white keys as she typed up what she hoped would be a phenomenal English essay. She rubbed her tired eyes and sighed, straining to see what she had just typed in the dim light provided by her laptop. The numbers…
I was usually the type to stay out of trouble and away from danger but Jim on the other hand, was the rebellious type. Usually a long-time friend can pursued you into doing pretty much anything, and Jim was the master when it came to that. Jim and I had been friends since we were…
Have you ever wondered at the mystery of sleep? That dark unknown of time when our conscious reality slips away and only slippery fragments of strange and obscure memories we call dreams occasionally cling to the outer reaches of our minds in a broken, hazy recording of this lost period of our lives? In our…
When I was young, like many ‘90s children, I had an obsession with Pokémon. It first started with my obsession with the video game. I didn’t even have it yet, I just saw the few, lucky kids playing it on the school yard and I was instantly hooked. I watched the show every Saturday morning and…
This all started with simple, little events. They were the kind of things that you question for a moment, and let pass without too much thought. I’ll start from the beginning: It was a warm Saturday morning in spring. Saturdays were always early days for me, since my daughter loved to wake up early for…
The flawless white of the perfect snow stretched ambitiously towards the amber horizon. The immense glass walls seemed to amplify the majesty of the Norstu desert. I’d have been struck down by awe if perfection were not now a staple aspect of everyday life. The ochre support panels of the place of worship were delicately…
The stiff autumn wind bullied brittle leaves across the sidewalk and into the empty street on Angela’s way home from the daycare center. She wrapped her too-thin cardigan tightly around her as the leaves were marched swiftly to the opposite curb. Their colors had drained from bright fingerpaint yellows, oranges, and reds to a dull,…
The thin ones, the Impervious, were watching. I would never be safe from them. They were there, they were always there. The warped, the dead, the undead, whatever the fuck they were. They had been there for as long as I could possibly remember. Before I get into detail about what I am about to…
My vision was hazy. I could feel warm liquid trickling down my forehead as I attempted to lift my head. The car’s blinker thundered inside of me like a heavy bass. I tasted the blood inside of my mouth, and the coolness of the night seeped into the cracks and crevices of the wreckage, surrendering…
The thing appeared to shiver slightly. Cam squinted, trying to get a better view, but he couldn’t for the lack of moonlight. Something was rising behind it. Like someone else standing up. But it wasn’t a person. It was an odd, wide figure, spindly and only coming up to the taller form’s shoulders. After several…
“Dread- a strong feeling of fear about something that will or might happen” (Webster’s Dictionary) What was that noise? I groggily shuffle out of bed, fumbling my way to the light switch. After my eyes adjust to the blinding flood of light from the hanging lamp in my bedroom, I scan the space. Nothing. It…
This pasta is yet another entry in The Holders series, a loose grouping of stories by countless different authors based on a specific premise. If this series is new to you, you may wish to visit this website dedicated specifically to archiving Holders stories; although we have a tag for the series and have posted…
Oil portraits of dignitaries and ancient politicians had been hung in a boastful collection on the encircling walls, a burgundy dark enough to impart arrogance to the unsure and confidence to those of likened wills, the marble pillars and brass railings emitting an astounding gleam from all sides, and Stewart felt assured to be in…
“Shhhh shhhh, it’s okay baby, I’m here now.” She coos into my ear, stroking my feverish cheek as I sit still in her gentle embrace. She hums a soft tune I’ve never heard before. I can’t believe it’s already been a whole hour since I first woke up, and I’m still shaking. I had opened…
You remember the feeling, don’t you? The feeling that you’re being watched, that if you make the slightest movement, you’re dead. Everybody had that fear as a child… You wake up in the night, can’t get back to sleep, shuffling back and forth from one uncomfortable position to the next, hoping to find a way…
“That was It’s All Over Now by Molly Hatchet. Y’all, I reckon there’s nothing better than good old Southern Rock to soothe the soul on a stormy Sunday night. This is Sammy James, and I’ll be riding with you ‘til the cows come home, here on 95.3 Rebel Country. Up next, we have the full-tilt…
It was around Thanksgiving when my grandparents came to visit. It had been almost two years since I and my younger brother and sister, Eric and Breanna, got to see them. They were always so lively when they came around. For an old man, my grandpa had a very interesting hobby. He collected action figures….
I don’t know how to start my story but I guess I’ll begin with the basic information and work my way down. I used to be a computer junkie, so I tended to spend a lot of time surfing the web… reading blogs, articles… Facebook… the whole nine yards. But my main focus was gaming….
“I had that dream again…” I woke up in the middle of an empty street. The city around me, unrecognizable and dead. Skyscrapers stood rotting and falling apart. Cars parked near shattered walkways lay rusted. A sing building stood taller than all the rest. Its frame, untouched by time, stood tall and looming. It was…
Like snakes slithering, intertwined, So are the constructs of my mind. I wonder if ’twas by Divine design, Or just the passage of Earth’s cruel time. No matter the case, I must digress, For I cannot think under such duress, Nor contemplate mine own egress, Into this dark pit of emptiness. With so much stress…
Murder is an incredibly human concept, when you think of it. All species kill; to protect their young, to cull those unfit, most often in order to stay alive- everyone needs to eat. And yet, in nature, all causes of death are natural. We exist simply for existence’ sake. All victories, large and small, all…
Get on any passenger bus that travels a long distance; Greyhound is usually a good pick. Anything that’s on the road for longer than 24 hours. Get a window seat facing west, then stare at the sun, waiting until sunset. Just before the sun touches the horizon, close your eyes. Hard. Do not turn away,…
It was late October in Brookhurst Wyoming in the year 1965. I was eighteen, and I lived with my sister in an older barn house, on the edge of town. I loved that little town- especially in the fall. The deep oranges, bold yellows, and dense reds of the season would take over the huge…
It began around three in the morning with a phone call. I was a college freshman, sharing a dorm room with another college freshman. We were both locals, and even though we’d gone to different high schools, it helped us get along. I wasn’t exactly feeling like getting along with her, though, when her cell…