Fantasy
Neverchangeable | Chapter 3
<< Click to read from the beginning (Chapter 0) < Click to read Chapter 2 On the security camera app installed on my cell phone, I watch the nothingness on the screen. In front of me, Farley walks across the bridge. It’s the same easy walk he’s had from since when we were kids. He doesn’t look back which makes it easy to take a moment and dip into my pixelated reverie. The cabin is black and grey except for the clump of dim white glow near the bottom corner of the screen. No sound comes from the room, no footsteps or crackling of a wood-burning fire from when Farley and I were kids. Even in the middle of the day, the room on the screen is midnight dark.
By sleepy draftsabout a year ago in Chapters
Neverchangeable | Chapter 2
<< Click to read from the beginning (Chapter 0) < Click to read Chapter 1 I look to you, slumped in the corner, as if awaiting your approval. My one remaining eye has adjusted more now. I can see more than just your rubbery skin, neon with death in front of me, and the single, shiny eye of the camera. I can make out the moose head I know is there, the overstuffed loveseat, the long, leather sofa under Auntie Rachel’s watercolour paintings. The ones she made when she got brain cancer. I can see the radiation on those paintings, green and luminescent, sparkling like the snowy landscapes they depict. The radiation poured from her pupils as she transferred the images from her mind to the coarse paper. Snowy hills, like clean, fresh starts, the radiation underneath only visible to me. Like two weeks from now, when the tourism season will officially be over, when winter will come, and here you and I will be. The two of us, alone, at last. Like it should have always been.
By sleepy draftsabout a year ago in Chapters
Neverchangeable | Chapter 1
< Click to read Chapter 0 Farley won't stop fucking around with his hunting knife. The sound sets my teeth on edge. The bridge has transformed over the two years since I sold it, most of the change happening within the last one. The limestone has been reinforced, no longer crumbling at random intervals, and signs have been put up at both ends with detailed directions on how to get through the forest safely and with ease. Different trails are marked with either green, orange, or red lines to allow tourists to select their difficulty. None of the trails are truly difficult anymore, though. None, except the unmarked ones. Farley’s face twists in disdain when he sees the sign, wide and dummy-proof.
By sleepy draftsabout a year ago in Chapters
Neverchangeable | Chapter 0
I smile up at the camera. A past version of me, a ghost version, sits hunched over a laptop in a dark room and watches the grainy, bluelight images move across his screen. I picture being that other version of me right now, the one that doesn’t exist, staring blankly, hungrily at the scene. Finally, I hear him think, something different. He hasn’t realized it’s us yet – me, him – and so he laps up the image. Two slumped over figures, one barely human anymore, the other a black-and-white night vision phantom of a man, smiling at the camera. His one eye glows, a white ring of two-dimensional fire that burns into the lens. The other eye is a wet slit, open, gooey, dripping, the membrane now a soft, stretched sock drooping over the eyelid, the kind of sock Farley and I used to hit each other with, with tennis balls dropped down in to the toes, the kind you used to hate. I shudder, look sideways with my one eye at the barely human figure slumped beside me, at once the man in the night vision scene again. You would not have approved of this. Not one bit. I look back at the camera, attached to the nose of the moose Farley had killed when we were fourteen, the camera I put up after Dad died. You would have been mortified. Would have called me indecent. I would have told you, it’s called being smart. You and I both know, you would have seen through that.
By sleepy draftsabout a year ago in Chapters
The Orphans in the Woods
After Rohan filled the bag with all the batteries, flashlights, and candles he could find he zipped it closed. Then he walked around the house again feeling a combination of tired, stressed, and worried. His thoughts were racing. He peeked from behind the curtain out of the living room window and saw the darkness of the night. Mom's 65 Mustang was parked in the driveway. He hadn't even noticed that the car was there when he and Gertrude got home from school. He saw the full moon and the light beam glaring from it. He remembered his mother talking about the names of faces of the moon. He remembered his sister talking about werewolves who go crazy when the moon is full. Then he started thinking about the money they had put together so far. He sat back down on the couch and re-counted.
By Shanon Angermeyer Normanabout a year ago in Chapters
Between the Last Breath and the Next. Content Warning.
The wind carried her words like whispers through the trees, scattering them into the open, empty sky. She sat on the edge of a worn gravestone, her fingers tracing the faint etchings of a name long eroded by time. The stone was cool beneath her touch, grounding her as her thoughts meandered between questions and confessions.
By llaurren's readsabout a year ago in Chapters
The Orphans in the Woods. Top Story - January 2025.
Rohan washed the dishes and put them away. He was grateful that his sister had cooked dinner. It wasn't as good as Mom's cooking, but for her first try it wasn't that bad. She'd get better. Gertrude had begun looking around the house for money as Rohan had told her. After Rohan was done putting the washed dishes away, he double checked the front door to make sure it was locked. He glanced at the telephone on the wall in the kitchen. No one had called yet and he was glad. He wondered if he should disconnect the phone or leave it alone. He decided to leave it alone for now. He walked through the living room to his bedroom to find his large suitcase. He had to pack the suitcase carefully with his best camping clothes.
By Shanon Angermeyer Normanabout a year ago in Chapters
The Orphans in the Woods
While Rohan was in the living room sorting through various supplies in the wheelbarrow, Gertrude was in the kitchen straining spaghetti noodles. She opened a can of tomato sauce and found a jar of parmesan cheese in the refrigerator. She set the table for her and her brother the way she had always done every night for her mother. They had chores. Her chores included setting the table, clearing the table of the dishes, putting the clean dry dishes back in the cabinet, and sweeping. Her brothers chores included taking the garbage out, helping Mom bring groceries in and put them away, cleaning the bathroom, and general maintenance when Dad wasn't around like changing light bulbs or making sure the grass or snow wasn't blocking the driveway. They were good obedient children. They believed in God and they loved their parents. They had been taught well at home and in school even though Rohan had only begun 4th grade and Gertrude had just started 2nd grade. They were intelligent children, excelling in their school studies without complaining about the various disciplines they were being taught.
By Shanon Angermeyer Normanabout a year ago in Chapters
The Chronicles of Lost Echoes
Lila wandered deeper into the forest, the towering trees casting long shadows over the moss-covered ground. The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and the quiet hum of life hidden just out of sight. As she walked, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched, though every time she turned, no one was there. The deeper she went, the more the world around her seemed to shift—branches seemed to sway in rhythm with her movements, and the distant sound of running water became clearer.
By Motivatepath about a year ago in Chapters
The Cursed House
The Cursed House: Beyond the White Wall In a small village surrounded by green hills and dense forests, there stands an old, abandoned house overlooking the village from the top of a hill. This house, known as "The Cursed House," holds terrifying secrets and strange tales passed down through generations. The white wall surrounding the house is not just an ordinary wall—it is a gateway to a world of mystery and horror. This story delves into the secret of that white wall and the curse that has turned the house into an unbearable place.
By 💓 Pulse of Stories 💓about a year ago in Chapters
