MAX JOHNSON met his grandmother Neta at the community center for bingo as he did every Thursday. They always arrived early to talk while they waited for the volunteers to finish setting up and other players to arrive. This week, Neta shared a harrowing story about an elderly neighbor who had discovered a spoiled half … Continue reading Milk Carton Universe (Chapter One)
Otso Mustonen stood among onlookers crowding a pool table watching an intense game between an audacious university student and a cool-headed man wearing an over-sized cream-colored sweater. At 6'5" and as an avid weightlifter, Otso dwarfed all other patrons in the tavern. He stood in the back, leaning against the wood-paneled wall, and observed the … Continue reading Coping Capacity
Neutrino strode down a line of people seated on the bank floor with their backs to the wall, faces lowered, and hands on their heads. The armed supervillain's footsteps were the only sound in the largest financial establishment in the city. Police had surrounded the building and cut power nearly an hour ago however, due … Continue reading Evil’s First Hello
A GROUP OF MONKS fled with the forest snapping at their heels. The forest itself squealed with bending tree limbs and groaning trunks; the deafening thrashing of lush branches grew wilder as the exhausted and despairing monks burst into a clearing. They prayed to be able to see the next village from the treeline. It … Continue reading Unsettled Spirits
Captain Hass was still laughing when the looming tower-like fin of a submarine glided alongside their lifeboats. For years, a hijacking operation targeted yachts and small ocean liners resulting in stolen ships and victims abandoned in lifeboats. Scores of lives and livelihoods had been disrupted and ruined to the degree of bankruptcy and suicide however, … Continue reading Fish in the Water
"I hate you," grumbled the priest, seated in a dusty corner and handcuffed to a pipe. "I hate you more," growled the gangster. Despite wearing clothes easily worth more than $2000, the gangster also sat on the floor. He was handcuffed to the same pipe. The detective looked at them from where she leaned over … Continue reading Jail or Hell
In a world where 50% of the population can use magic, there existed an ordinary cast-iron frying pan. The pan had been owned and used to prepare meals the old fashioned way by six different sorcerers in its lifetime. Eventually, the sorcerers sold it either at yard sales or online. However, having been in the … Continue reading The Frying Pan (pt. 1)
My friend Megan gave me a writing prompt that I'm gonna make either my New Year's Eve or New Year's Day post (if I don't set a deadline, I'll forget about it; also, if I give my self too long to think about it, the story gets too complicated and I won't finish it ). … Continue reading New Year’s Eve/Day Short Story Prompt
“HEY, MESA!” I looked over at the sound of my name. At the time, I was holding a heavy crate of bottles for the old shop owner who was clearing a cluttered bench to accommodate the burden. On the step outside the open shop door, our local letter carrier waved an envelope over her head. … Continue reading The “Mesa” Story – The Beginning
"You make so much trouble for him," Mrs Journ scolded the three female warriors who collapsed into chairs of various tables around the empty dining area of her small inn. With her braided hair bound tall in a silver mountain, the proprietress shook a large wooden spoon at each of them. "You should be ashamed … Continue reading For the Quest!
Duri Rolvsson 