1 – The Rosebud I wake up to sunlight.A heavy, warm stripe of it is lying across my face, the kind that comes through high windows in the late afternoon. It is bright enough that it forces my eyes open, and for a moment I don’t know where I am. […]
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 »
I live in a small, rural town that was nestled away from the hustle and bustle of city life in an area not that far from Richmond, Virginia. It’s the kind of town that would take about 20 mins to drive from one end to the other. There’s this main
Why is the lady on the flat boat waving at me? Why is she pointing at me, then pointing to the flat boat then waving her arms waist high while shaking her head side to side like a football referee indicating incomplete pass? But it’s clearly not that. This is
When you’re asked to rate a person, irrespective of how crass that request is, you expect to be rating an individual who, though they can be offended or hurt by your assessment, will move on from the exchange relatively unscathed. Especially when you’re still in college, you never expect any
I remember well when I came across the strange sequence of events in the odd case of the cellar underneath the Winemaker’s shop. The things I saw that night, I fear I will never forget, nor come to peace with. However, with the strength of my faith and my understanding
The Copper, the Collar, and the Glimmering Blade Read More »
Tommy was lying in bed when he heard heheard a gunshot ring out in his Nebraskan home.. Gunshots were not an unusual sound for Tommy. His pa was a esteemed gun collector and living on the farm his pa had often fired the gun as pesky predators that have tried
The balloons flew over a month after the economy collapsed. It had been hanging on by a thread for a while, but eventually, our government couldn’t afford basic human needs anymore. We were left to rot in the streets, local and corporate business began their shutdowns, raiders had gotten to
Night One Hello, I am Sally, or Sal for short. I have a story for you that happened about a year ago. I need to tell someone because it is a tale that has been gnawing away at my mind. It is a story that still haunts my nightmares today
She often wore red ― the color of blood, love, and lust. She was often quiet, though when she was on stage, she would come alive, her voice a soft echo that carried out through An Angel’s Heart, a bar in the middle of nowhere. Nobody came here, though I
“All a skeptic is is someone who hasn’t had an experience yet.” — Jason Hawes“Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.” — Stephen King Clinking and clanging filled the room, coming from finished plates and drinking glasses. As supper was ending,
No one likes the dark Read More »
A coward has many guises, and my bluff; has been called. I’m not a brave man. I slept with a night light on until I was in my twenties. Yet, here I am, Mr. Tough-guy, the first line of defense against forces unknown. Forces that were unknown until we went
“Your job…your sole life responsibility for the rest of your natural life is to keep that door shut….always! The house is yours…you can do what you want with it regarding restoration or upgrades. But, you need to live here until the day you die. I inherited it from my grandfather.
There’s something about the crunch of leaves under my boots that reminds me of death. Walking down an unlit path to get back to my house, I’m regaled with that feeling with every passing step as I travel through the park. A shortcut between my home and a friend’s Halloween
A Shadow in the Woods Read More »
The rusty black Sedan crept along the road opposite Claire, moving at under 10 mph. Claire stopped walking and pretended to check her phone while ignoring her shaking hand and rising heart rate: the signs of an on-coming panic attack, worsened by alcohol. The Sedan finally stopped, but she heard
When people ask me about how it is to live in my neck of the woods, the Carolina Piedmont, I’d like to tell them of the rolling hills that lead up to the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. I’d like to tell them of the somewhat eerie and rather endearing orchards
White Eyes in Bright Lights Read More »
My mouth was covered by my older brothers’ hand, shallow, panicked breaths escaping between the sweat between the cracks of his fingers. Both of us whimpering underneath our house in the crawlspace. Our sweatpants and Fanshawe t-shirts covered in spider webs, dirt, and blood. I am crying underneath his hand.
The Dollhouse Murderer Read More »
I took a deep breath to stop the slight shaking in my hand, whispering my affirmation on the exhale, “I’m ready for this, I’m ready,” before sliding the blue-lined notebook paper out from its envelope. It was finally ready to read my dad’s suicide note. It took me almost two
The Suicide Note that wasn’t Read More »
How you’ll die is written on your forearm. Don’t look now; you can’t see it; but it’s there. I can see it. It’s horizontal. Big and bold. Always black. Oh, and how old you’ll be. I call it your “death stamp”. I was eight; looking at the arm of my
He was a striking gentleman. I mean the stereotypical southern “yes sir, no sir,” “mother may I,” gentlemen. The first time I met him I saw this stranger from a distance attempting to move a heavy looking recliner into the condo next to mine. My wife and I haven’t had
The Custom of the Alabama Watermelon Man Read More »
No service? You’ve got to be kidding me! My older brother, James, is in LA with the house to himself. He’s probably in the Jacuzzi surrounded by hot girls right now. Meanwhile, I’m in some European backwater that has been decaying since the fall of the U.S.S.R. I looked over
The Man at the End of the Hill Read More »
When Matt originally proposed the idea, I thought he was joking. Crash a wedding? Like in the movies? Pull a Vince Vaughn? I loved the idea, but the thought of actually sneaking into a random wedding to pick up chicks, well… it just wasn’t possible. Someone would realize we didn’t
I remember living on the streets, that I remember. Exactly how that came to be is still unclear, but I know that one way or another it was because of my parents. I hated them, hate them still with the little memory of them I have left. Flashes of pure
The light of the camp fire offered little comfort to the panic that surged through him. His blood might as well have been pure adrenaline. His senses were on high alert, triggering him, causing him to jump at the slightest sight or sound. “AAAGGHHHHHHHHH! HEEEEELLLP ME”! There was that scream
