Growing up in Lenora, nobody died. Not in that quiet, dust-flavored hamlet. Even with a humble town like ours, the small sadnesses you’d see every so often were gone, however young, old, or misfortune. The hospital beds lay empty, aside from the drunks resting off...
Friends like Quinn Perser were hard to come by, especially in Stonedirt County. He was one of those spectacular people, the kind you meet once in your life, if you’re lucky, that knew how to complement every aspect of you. Held a good conversation, shared...
My name is Darren Johnson. I’m thirty-four years old. I have wavy black hair, blue eyes, a shaven face, and no distinct details that would separate me from the crowd. I work the night shift at a large office building doing housekeeping. The small paychecks...
It began as another dreadful day working overtime in the hellish place, we called home. Deadrock Correctional Center, a place where we send tormented souls to suffer until the end of time. I was just twenty-one when I started, still green behind the ears. My...
I’m afraid of the moon. Stupid as I know that sounds, I am, I’m afraid of the moon. I’m afraid because of what it can do to people. “Lunacy,” “Lunatic,” both have two things in common. They both mean insane or crazy, and they both have...
I can hear them right now. Scuttling and scampering about. I can hear them whispering, debating on who’ll get the first bite. On which parts of me they’ll want to eat first. I can hear them from under me, under my bed. The floor and the...
“… It is hope, not despair, that undoes us all…” -- Jennifer Donnely *** BZZZZZ Try having that sound wake you up. The way the metal screeches as it spins. Try having THAT wake you up, and then realize you’re bare-ass naked and restrained to a chair. What would you...
Before we get into things here, let me ask you a question. What would you say if you were told by a close friend of yours that you’ve known all your life that they encountered something strange in the ocean while on a cruise? Would...
The first time was probably the least tragic, or at least, the least painful. The least haunting, as well. It was three years ago; my health had taken a nosedive. Cancer, stage three. I’d been a chain smoker since the end of freshman year of...
I just wanted to make her happy, that’s all. I just wanted to make her happy with me again. Was that so wrong? I mean, what’d I do to deserve this? Okay, so maybe I cheated. But I felt horrible for it and wanted to make...
“…In an attempt to convince the prince to do his duty, he assumes his multi-armed form and he says, ‘Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds’… I suppose we all felt that in a way…” - J. Robert Oppenheimer People always used to ask me,...
“Will you tell us the story again, Dad?” ”Yeah, Dad, tell us about ‘Little Johnny’s Cave!’ PLEASE?” I still remember those days, sitting around a campfire in the backyard and listening to dad tell that story. It was our favorite. “Little Johnny’s Cave.” It was as...
From the Desk of Independent Journalist and Researcher James Thurwell: Recently, what could be termed a medical miracle was performed, in which scientists were able to revive tissue that suffered cellular death using a system known as OrganEx. This process was able to take organs harvested...
“And a double with cheese, please.” Patrick leaned in close to me from the passenger seat. “Can you add a Coke to that, too?” I leaned out. “Can we have a Coke, too, please?” I looked back at Patrick, who made a hand gesture, pulling his hands...
The following is transcribed from a document located in an unmarked grave discovered and exhumed on the island of Skellig Michael. The document is of particular note, because not only does it predate the monastic orders that would come to dominate the culture of this...
Raw vulgarities and unspeakable explicatives in a seemingly everlasting anguish, embedded like a cancer in his soul. Every unforgiven man has lacked forgiveness and thus has brought the pestilence to his own door. In order for one to be forgiven, one must find it in...
Staring wildly out the window, trying to make sense of the madness swelling in my mind, I am lost in the reverie of the little I know to be true, trying to reconcile the upheaval in my soul. How I pray it were possible, in...
Abraham had concluded his business in Abbeville. He had slept extemporaneously since he had arrived, but he was anxious to see home. Home was several miles out of town, but it would be an easy walk. Abraham walked everywhere. Transportation for him had been a horse...
When we moved into the house, we called it our home. We were clueless as to what forces were living with us. It became apparent rather quickly we were not alone. All of the events I am sharing, I do with reluctance. I am not interested...
I’ll never forget the Halloween I moved to Westport. It was a rough year for me—just barely 12—moving in the hottest summer months to a new town in the middle of nowhere. Coming from the big city, the endless fields and forests were definitely new...
