Tag: Fiction

Haunted Passages Short Fiction by Tobias Carroll: “Crude Thing”

Matteo called it a crude thing. In the end that’s what stuck with me the most. A crude thing, a visitation, something unspeakable. The crude thing, and where it took us all. I was there and Erin was there when Matteo shared what had happened, the three of us sitting at an empty table in…
Fiction for Side A: “Pearl Ring” by Ivy Grimes

Pearl Ring He and his betrothed moved into a cream-colored apartment in the outer ring of the concentric circles that made up the apartment complex. At the center of the complex was a swimming pool. He first noticed her pearl ring on their first trip to the apartment’s swimming pool when she took off her…
Side A Short Story: “Light ’Em Up” by Elizabeth Rosen

I spotted the guy as he came around the corner where the protest was happening outside the library on the plaza. Kind of scummy-looking, and not in a hipster way. White guy, wearing a plain Hanes T-shirt frayed at the collar and scuffed aviator sunglasses pushed up into unwashed hair. He was carrying a homemade…
Side A Fiction: “Whirlpool” by Mark Wagstaff

Whirlpool The seaside painter paints what he sees. For tourists who scour the old town shops for authentic memories of their happy days at the beach. Who pay extra for signed and framed, to support artisan crafts. For friends, to settle small debts, though everyone knew these pictures never gained value. As presents, a quaint…
Flash Fiction for Bad Survival: “How to Acquire Land” by Genevieve Murdick

The Young Knight picked her out of what they’d left of her village, when she was just six. After loading up on as much milk and grain and heirlooms as he could fit on two bags on a horse, the Young Knight had room enough for a wife—but not an entire wife—not yet; and he…
Haunted Passages Short Fiction: “Fate Cat” by Olufunmilayo Makinde

“Keep your hat on!” Ajoke’s mother yelled as she watched her daughter leave for school. “Yes ma!” Ajoke yelled back, pulling her cap tighter over her head by its brim as she ran out of the house and headed toward the bus outside. Ajoke was born with a cat on her head, just like her…
Fiction from the Future: “Stephen Rogata” by Hugh Behm-Steinberg

The TV is on halfheartedly, a documentary about human flies the kids and us are sort of watching, though as a ghost I’m drawn more to the spaces in between the pixels than the imprisoning overall grid itself. My brother Kevin, head full of beard and nodding, leans against my side of the couch but…
Fiction for Bad Survivalist by Russell Brakefield: “A Temple and a Church and an Ashram”

Julian had a way of falling into shadow even in the dark. As the fire kindled, he shifted in his camp chair, avoiding the flame’s oblong spotlights. “Are you cold?” I zipped my own coat higher and tucked my hair inside my hat, one of the green beanies I’d knit when I was pregnant with…
Fiction from the Future: “How to Use This Instruction Manual” by Ron Burch

Remove the Instruction Manual from the container. Usually this is a box, mostly cardboard, with the item to be constructed also within. This may also include parts and tools. Do not throw anything away. It has all been enclosed to help finish the project. Separate the parts and identify with the Instruction Manual that they…