I sipped the fruity wine, hoping it would help to calm my nerves. It had been a long time since I had last been on a date, and I didn’t want it to be too obvious. I let my eyes wander the room of the small pub, taking in the […]
It’s What’s Inside That Counts Read More »
The Tuscan villa was a postcard come to life, a sprawling stone residence nestled among rolling hills thick with cypress trees and the silvery-green olive groves. For Tom and Linda Patterson, a middle school teacher and an office manager, and their friends Mark and Jennifer Walsh, a retail manager and
She stopped as her legs ached from hours of walking. She had come far. Very far. The day and night seemed to intertwine; never being distinct if there could be said to be a circadian movement in the subtly shifting grey above at all. There did seem to be very
1 – A Mouth to Feed December 1865 – Vettheim, Finnmark, Norway The frigid winter wind howled ferociously, driving the relentless blizzard hard against the rough wooden walls of the small house. In places, the turf of the roof had been torn away by the savage weather, exposing the birch
My doctor gave me this journal to tell my story, since it’s easier to write it than to speak it. Dr. Henley says the act of writing might help me process what happened, might help me find some semblance of peace in this sterile white hell they call treatment. And
Read Part One here We both drove back to the station and handed in our gear and changed. I could still smell the faint odor clinging to my uniform. I suppressed the urge to gag as I threw it back into my locker without any finesse, just wanting to get
Just Another Summer in ‘95 Part Two Read More »
My name is Aaron Evans, and some time ago I was the reason twenty people lost their lives. I am writing this in part to confess to the world what I’ve done and to describe to everyone the horrific yet eye-opening experience that brought me to this point. Let me
I want to say this happened in the early summer when our park was full of hikers, campers, and tourists. Montana had its beauty in those summer months, so I couldn’t blame them.A lot of the tourists hadn’t spent a day camping or even been backpacking. A lot of them
Just Another Summer in ‘95 Read More »
It was early October. Acorns were raining down on the tin roofs and cheap ravaged asphalt shingles of the mobile homes around Lake Junior in Interlachen, Florida, like mother trees were dropping their kids off to make their way in the world. Across the lake the entire sky was illuminated
I need to start this out with the simple fact that I’ve never had any mental issues in the past and I also haven’t used any drugs, not even the “safe” ones that’s more up my sister’s alley. I should also say that I am a night owl usually staying
Something is making Me do Random Tasks for People I don’t Know Read More »
If you’re reading this, it’s because I have no other choice. Nobody will listen to me, not even the police. It’s only a matter of time before they come for me, and when they do, this is the only evidence of the truth. There is something under the boardwalk in
There’s Something Under the Boardwalk Read More »
I grabbed Olivia’s shirt collar as she scream-laughed — that awful sound that always made my spine twist. I hated when she did that. In all fairness, I thought she was actually screaming. Earlier, when I’d been in the shower, it came through the phone like a murder scene —
How far am I willing to go to make my dream come true? Through hell and back, that’s what I kept telling myself. Through hell and back. I’d been out of a job for 6 months. At first, I told myself it was just a rough patch. Everyone goes through
Anything for true art Read More »
I feel compelled to tell you all a story. One about mirrors. They are so much more than you could ever imagine. They aren’t simply vessels for reflections. They are a gateway into an entire world, a dying realm on the brink of collapse. My friends and I call it
I am my own Worst Enemy Read More »
It’s amazing what lives within our oceans. Ecosystems of life entirely separated from our comfortable surface existences. It’s a momentous event when the worlds interact: people cheer when they see dolphins breach above the waves, there are organizations devoted to helping the sea turtle population make their way back to
“Grey rocks, and greyer sea.And surf along the shore.And in my heart a name.My lips shall speak no more.” – Charles G.D. Roberts, Grey Rocks and Greyer Sea “Gods curse you, Whateley! Curse you to Hades! Get back, you devils! Back I say! Oh God! Oh Lord! Help my poor
I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly to pass my life in purity and to practice my profession faithfully. I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous and will not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug. I will do all in my
It’s been about a month now that Kenny’s been gone. Three weeks and five days to be exact. He left in his pirogue one night just after sunset to go frogging and never came back. Man just up and disappeared like a fart in the wind. Now, it’s just me
I live alone in a houseboat on the bayou. Something’s been tapping at the hull at night. Read More »
As a kid, it took everything I had not to paint the inside of my family’s car with a wave of vomit. My carsickness was the bane of our long road trips. We tried dozens of tricks to minimize the Jackson Pollocks I created on our car windows. Books, movies,
I Made Him Up For Company on Long Car Rides, Now He Follows Me Everywhere Read More »
PHASE I – The Arrival The photograph arrived without explanation. It showed some kind of mass. Dark grey and pulsating. It was hovering far above the North Atlantic. It resembled a cyclone but there was no eye of this storm, no rotation. Just layers. Like folds of gauze, stacked and
There’s Drumming In The Clouds Read More »
I sleep with my window closed now. Not out of habit, out of fear. There are monsters in the world, real ones. Serial killers, rapists, the kinds of things we can name and lock up. But the supernatural? That’s different. It’s older. Quieter. Easier to keep secret. It hides in
I Sleep With My Window Closed Now Read More »
In the heart of the Appalachian Mountains, where rugged ridges jutted upward like the ancient, weathered spines of slumbering giants, and the valleys plunged into deep shadows that clung stubbornly to the earth, the forest guarded its mysteries with a quiet, unyielding vigilance. The people who called those mountains home,
More likely than not, you won’t think I’m real. You’ll catch a glimpse of something moving in the dark after waking up in the middle of the night. Usually from a nightmare. In the middle of your room, or wherever you happen to be sleeping, you’ll see someone dancing by
Please Let Me Stay Read More »
Adventure. Adventure is what I craved. I wanted to gain the fruits of life that I had so long been denied in my youth—and, in those days, those fruits could be found and plucked in the American West. But if I had a hint of what would happen to me
The Yellow-Eyed Devils Read More »
