Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Fiction.
Hamish the Protector
Standing before the great statue of Hamish the Protector, the Saviour of the Wastelands, Trevor was dumbstruck with awe, his mind as thick as molasses. — I can’t believe we found him Honey, he said to his wife whose name, coincidentally enough, was Honey. — All hail our great idol, said Honey. — All hail the Great Protector, said Trevor. Flies flew in and out of their mouths with free abandon as the pair stood gaping at the colossus.
By Ben Debney5 years ago in Fiction
Weathering The Storm
As I sit here holding the heart shaped locket with the picture of my father in it that was given to me shortly before my world was turned upside down it takes me back to that moment in time. On a small Island east of the states we received news that there would be an apocalypse that would change our lives forever. On the small Island lived about 600 people in total. We all were in danger no one exempt. About 7 am on a Tuesday morning the anchorman came on to the television and stated that Hurricane Todd would be making its way to Samaria Island possibly wiping away everything and everyone that did not get out before 7pm that night. I lived there on the Island with my stepmother Ms. Ruby who I was left with after my father passed away 2 years prior. Ms. Ruby was a great caretaker for me however Ms. Ruby was just as stubborn as she was strong. An hour after the announcement everyone on the Island was scrambling and packing up as much as they could fit in boats to evacuate and get to safety. Everyone except Ms. Ruby and I, “Ms. Ruby are we going to pack and get going I asked?” No, she replied with a stern voice and a straight face “I am tired of the government and their manmade tactics trying to scare us away.” “Every time they get on that television screen fear mongering and talking of disasters they never come” she exclaimed sounding frustrated yet not showing it. Ms. Ruby got up and walked to the window and stared out into the waters that was surrounding the island before turning to me and saying, “your father would have wanted us to stay here and not run Nokia.” I rolled my eyes and walked away and mumbled under my breath “my father would have wanted you to take me to safety.” I went into my room and began to pack everything I could fit in my bag because if we were not leaving, I was leaving and going to safety by myself. As I eased down the back steps heading for the back door Ms. Ruby called out to me “Nokia where are you going? I order you to come here now.” I sat my bag behind the kitchen door and slowly made my way toward Ms. Ruby who was still gazing out of the window. “You don’t trust my judgement, do you” she asked. I nodded my head yes and proceeded to turn and leave her presence when she grabbed me by my wrist squeezing tightly as she whispered, “If you leave here never come back.” Her words and her gesture took me by surprise because never in the 10 years that she was with my father did she touch me in any way or speak to me in that manner. At that point I knew I had to plan my escape and exit faster something had gotten into Ms. Ruby and I did not want to find out what it was. I grabbed my bag from behind the kitchen door and headed toward the back door just to realized Ms. Ruby had boarded the kitchen door shut as well as nailed close all the first-floor windows some time ago. “You thought you were leaving” She yelled out from the front room slightly laughing as if something was funny. “Yes, I want to leave” I replied to her. “I know all the other times they were wrong but this time I feel something coming and it’s coming fast” I said to her. She began to laugh again “Not you too, they have brainwashed you all, when you wake up tomorrow still here on Samaria Island you will be glad that I didn’t let you leave.” Ms. Ruby had gone mad and here I am stuck with her as he awaits death. I ran back up to my room and stood in the window as I began to cry chills covered my body, that was a sign to me that my father was there comforting and protecting me. Several hours had gone pass and it had started to lightly rain, then the rain got heavier, and the skies darkened. Sitting on my bed I could not think of any other way out because my room was on the second floor and jumping from that window I may as well just await death with Ms. Ruby because I was more than certain that I would have broken both my legs had I jumped. I was almost certain that Ms. Ruby would change her mind, then call me downstairs and try to get out since it was now dark and raining. I was wrong as I eased down the steps Ms. Ruby was down on her knees in front of the living room couch praying as she did 3 times a day facing east. It was something she did as part of her spiritual practice. I did not want to interrupt her, but we had to get out of there and do it fast if we were to survive the rainwater had begun to make the ocean waters rise slowly covering the land of Samaria Island and the winds were heavy almost taking down the palm trees. “Ms. Ruby we got to get the heck out of here it is happening” I yelled to her. Unbothered, Ms. Ruby turned to me and said, “Nokia it is too late all the boats have left and all we have now is each other and faith.” “I tried to warn you, but you did not listen to me and now we are stuck here to die” I yelled at her before running back up to my room and burying my face in the pillow to finish crying. As I laid there in bed the rain never slowed down and the winds picked up. I could feel the entire house shaking as if we were having a small earthquake as well as a hurricane and then I seen the tree right outside my window go down. I jumped from the bed and rushed down the stairs to check on Ms. Ruby even though she could have taken us to safety but chose not to. When I got to the bottom of the steps there was water inside the house and all the wall pictures in the living room had fallen off the wall. “Ms. Ruby” I yelled out and she did not reply, and I did not see her anywhere in the living room. I ran all over the house looking for her thinking she had decided to just leave me there and save herself, which was a horrible thought and feeling to have. But after she grabbed my wrist and stopped me from being able to leave, I no longer put anything pass Ms. Ruby. Ms. Ruby was 64 years old and did not care if we lived or died, had I known she would turn out to be this way after my father died 2 years ago, I would have asked to be put in the system or sent to the states to live with my grandmother. My father met Ms. Ruby 10 years ago when I was just 5 and he thought the world of her and now he is probably very disappointed in her behavior and her unthought through decision to stay here during a hurricane. “Ms. Ruby” I yelled her name again as I went into every room on the lower-level splashing through water looking for her. Suddenly I heard movement coming from upstairs. I turned and ran toward the stairs. As I got on to the stairwell simultaneously, I can hear the anchorman saying the speed of the wind has finally reached hurricane force and I heard the gusting winds shattering the windows of our home. I continued to run up the stairs looking for Ms. Ruby when she greeted me in the hallway with a scared and concerned look on her face. Ms. Ruby dropped down to her knees and begun to cry as she apologized for not taking the warning serious and risking both our lives. As angry as I was with Ms. Ruby, I cared so I sat down beside her and hugged and comforted her as we both listened to the winds ripping our home apart and the water quickly speeding up the steps toward us. She turned to me and pulled a heart shaped locket from her top shirt pocket, placed it in my hand and told me to always cherish it. Shortly thereafter Ms. Ruby took me to her room and into her closet where she pulled the chain that was hanging from the ceiling and a door opened to what looked like an attic and she pulled a latter that only came halfway down. “Climb in” she said. I was skeptic but also nervous about going up in the attic and was scared that this may have been another one of her dark tricks she was using to trap me in the house. I heard the winds rip half the house away and I had no time to debate her I jumped up grabbed the latter and climbed as fast as I could. When I looked back down to see id Ms. Ruby was coming, she was gone and nowhere in sight. When I stood up and turned around half of the attic had been torn to shreds also. Tears began to wail up in my eyes and I just knew that this was the end for both Ms. Ruby and I. The winds were still gusting at high speed and the waters had approached the attic I was in disbelief that Ms. Ruby stayed to die and did not fight. With no time for sobbing, I looked around and noticed that my father’s kayak set was up in the attic at the far corner that did not get ripped to shreds yet. I quickly ran through the water and stacked 1 kayak on top of the other and climbed in, fastened the belt, and sat to await the passing of the storm or to be carried away too, whichever came first. As I sat in the kayak with my head covered, my body covered in chills, and I could feel my father’s presence there keeping me calm and covered as the storm passed. After about 10 minutes I could feel the kayaks rocking as if they were getting ready to fall over or be taken by the winds. I held on tightly and begun to beg for my father’s protection. The kayaks continued rocking until they fell over being taken out of the house into the high rise of water. Though I was fastened in I still found myself fighting to keep the kayak right side up to avoid tipping out. As I struggled to keep the kayak form tipping it felt like someone had given me a hand to turn it upright. The kayak I was in had been carried out of the house and immediately the winds slowed down drastically. As I floated around on the waters all I could do is sigh in relief that the storm was finally passing, and I was still alive. After about 45 minutes to an hour of just floating around I was approached by the rescue team who had came in to look for any survivors floating above water. I was thankful that they had come for me because I had no idea where I would float to. Ms. Ruby body was later recovered, and I was sent to the states to California to live with my grandmother. Upon arrival I had remembered the locket Ms. Ruby had given me. I ran to my new room and laid back on the bed and opened to discover it was a picture of my father. I smiled.
By Brittany Brown5 years ago in Fiction
Is this us?
It was too hot. The air was too stifling. It was just too much. Miranda sighed and kicked a piece of brick down the pile of rubble. She wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her gloved hand and made her way down the pile of broken building pieces. She walked around the hole in the floor, glancing down at the multiple levels below. Miranda always found that hole odd. It was like something had blown a hole straight from the roof through the center of the entire building.
By Nicki Williams 5 years ago in Fiction
where are you?
I never really liked jewelry. It’d either turn me green or break, so I never saw the point. It was never “me” anyways. For some reason though, I still carry around your necklace like it’s my own source of life. Strange how one person can flip your world upside down and suddenly, everywhere you look, you can see them, smell them, hear them, feel them, and even taste them. After you went missing, the locket was the only thing I had of you. It was the only thing I really had at all, really. Silly necklace… How this little trinket can hold so much hope for someone who might just be dead. It’s been weeks since I last saw you, and now the only times I can see you is when I open this god-forsaken necklace. I hope you are well, though. The search for you is what has kept me alive. I don’t know what I’ll do knowing that you’re gone. The air around me collapses my lungs with every breath I take and I am nothing more but rattling bones blanketed in sheer skin. The stench of corpses is unbearable and I have nobody left, not even a ghost of a peer. I have no salvation besides this broken street lamp. I feel myself slowly losing my sanity. What would I do without you? Please, someone! Dear God, I cannot be alone here. The silence is deafening! I can’t do this alone! Please come back to me, where are you? Damn this necklace! Where are you?!
By Tram Duong5 years ago in Fiction
STARLING ALLEY
The lane was uneven in every possible way. The brickwork gutter ran not quite down the middle creating an uneven slant to both halves of the dog-legged little byway. Even during peak hour traffic or the busy city nights, there was never any traffic. In the window of one of the town houses that backed onto this urban capillary stood a thin woman in an old fashioned house dress. Her silver hair gathered in a hastily prepared but still perfectly shaped bun.
By Grant Kininmont5 years ago in Fiction
Device of Hope
"My locket! My locket! Johanna, have you seen my Locket'? Mya searches the street corner where she was standing and tried to retrace her steps when she felt another shove from a stranger hurrying to get inside their home. Mya could not understand why that person even touched her. There were only roughly 6 million people left in the world. There was plenty of space to walk. Johanna her little sister was a few yards away from her searching for the locket. Mya wanted to hurry and find the locket so that she could get home and write in her diary about the day's events. Today's diary entry was going to have a lot to do with the pending excitement.
By LATANYA N CHATFIELD5 years ago in Fiction
Crow Secrets
It happened on the couch on our front porch. That old couch that had been out there since Mama decided a few years back that we needed a new one. Some new neighbors moved in down the road and she saw the fancy couch that they pulled out of the back of the moving truck. Daddy said he didn’t think there was anything all that special about it, but Mama did. She went on for days about the white, lacy upholstery and wonderful leather trim. For the next week, whenever she walked through the family room, she would look at our couch and sigh. And the louder she would sigh, the more frustrated Daddy would get. White upholstery wouldn’t last three seconds in this house with all us kids runnin’ round and all the dirt comin’ in from the farmhouse every time someone opened and shut the kitchen door, he would say. Daddy was right. I didn’t think the neighbors’ couch was gunna look real great after one of our long, dry summers when the dust crept in even the tightest shut windows and layered itself up in every nook and cranny. Heck, the white linen napkins that were tucked away in the dining room drawer even seemed to turn brown in the summer. Mama knew this was true too and eventually said that it didn’t have to be white, but that she still wanted a new one. And she continued to sigh every morning as she passed the couch on her way to make breakfast for me and Jake and the twins. And then, one day, comin’ home from school, there was our couch, out on the porch. When I went inside, I found Mama sittin’ all smiles on a brand new blue couch. She was quick to point out the carved mahogany feet. The neighbors’ couch didn’t have no carved mahogany feet.
By Megan Clancy5 years ago in Fiction
THE BARBARIAN & THE KING
T he ring in the curved steel as it cleared the scabbard spoke to the quality of the blade, the glare from the morning sunlight striking its edge spoke to its sharpness. The steam of his breath spoke of the coldness of the air. The speed of his movement spoke of the hone of his reflexes. The stare in his cold grey eyes spoke of his determination. The stance in his lean but powerful form spoke of his skill as a warrior.
By Grant Kininmont5 years ago in Fiction
Raptor Hunt & Mesoamerican Adventure
What do you know about raptors? We are refined prime predators. Quick minds make rapid adaptors. They’ve been around since dinosaurs. Now we've flight & in the sky soar! We’re a feature of much folklore. We now protect the bald eagle. Their true nature is quite regal. To hunt them in now illegal. I did once shoot a red-tailed hawk. Upon death we felt a soul shock! A somber truth no being can mock. My chickens needed protection. Death in my arms was connection. Its shocked eyes showed my reflection.
By David Duran 5 years ago in Fiction
