I graduated from high school a few years back. I still live with my parents, but I’m using this time to my advantage. They’re kind enough not to charge rent and that allows me the ability to save up almost every penny I make. The...
I was twelve years old when I went on my first hunting trip. It took a lot of brown-nosing and a lot of help from my grandfather, but eventually my father caved and allowed me to go. I was ecstatic. Every fall, my dad and grandpa...
James was an eight-year-old boy with the heart of a dog and the energy of a hummingbird. His mother died when he was only five, so he lived with his grandmother, Babcia. They were very poor: their house was a tiny, dilapidated thing, with a...
The boy hated the nights when his big brother snuck out. He would stare at the empty bed in the bedroom they shared, under the large open window in the eave. Through there, every now and again, he could hear the unmistakable metal thuds of...
The invasion began in 1985, or so we were told. The headlines immediately caught our attention, “Killer Bees Found on Southern Border!” These were the type of things that sparked the imagination of every child. It filled our heads with images of terrifying attacks and...
I was just a kid. I didn’t know any better. Even if I could go back, what would I have done differently? Could I have changed what happened? Could I have done anything at all? Probably not. Even so, I can’t help but dwell on...
“Do not go outside! Ignore all cries for help, no matter how human they sound!” shouted Alex’s dad. He pulled the cellar door over and paused to look back. “And lock this door behind me.” The door slammed shut. Alex locked it, walked down the stairs...
Tom Strand had to pee. Sixty-four ounces of gas station root beer sloshed in his gut, disrupting the constant thoughts of his mother. The problem was Tom hadn’t seen a rest stop for nearly an hour, and dusk was beginning to settle over the Louisiana...
In places where the very old traditions still hold, August is known as “the ghost month.” Hungry ghosts are said to roam the streets and hillsides, especially at night and especially when things are quiet. Some say that hungry ghosts are created when someone innocent...
Henry never believed the stories. A marketing trick, that’s all they were, meant to lure tourists who wanted to be fooled. That’s what he told the curator, in so many words, during his job interview. The curator gave Henry a tour of the museum just after...
An old man lived alone in a house by the ocean. Every morning as the sun rose, he walked down the forest path to the beach and enjoyed the salty air coming off the water. Every evening, he returned to the shore to watch the...
A man awoke to find himself laying on the floor. Dazed and confused he was somewhat relieved to see that he was not alone. At least a dozen more people were waking up as well; women, men a few children, including a little girl perhaps...
From the moment she learned to walk, little Myrtle dreamed of becoming a tap dancer. She would totter through the house, her chubby bare feet slapping arrhythmically on the hardwood, her squeaky voice calling out “Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!” like tap shoes on a stage. When her second-grade teacher...
The road is a light brown path of dirt that stretches up and down the shallow hills, running straight from end to end before becoming serpentine at its eastern end where it meets the main highway. Blades of grass struggle to break through but soon...
I sat down on the padded stool. It was cushioned and made of black leather. As I lifted the sticks, I couldn’t help but shake the feeling like I was being watched. Like there was some sort of audience staring at me just outside of...
“My god, boys… will you just stop?!? If you keep messing around you’re going to miss your bus and I can’t afford to be late today.” My spirits far too defeated to attain the authoritative tone needed for the situation. Stewie and Collin are still...
I opened the back door to my house, without bothering to put shoes on, and walked towards the line of trees that stood at the entrance to the forest. It was summer and the warm breeze carried with it the smell of nature, thick and...
I’ve been a widower for exactly six years now. I was blissfully married to a woman named Ava for fifteen amazing years. We didn’t have much in the beginning, but we were happy that way. She always said she’d rather struggle with a man that...
It was on the third day of the stench permeating the house that we decided to call the landlord. In the last month since we had moved in, there had been a lot of creaking and groaning from underneath the house. It was built sometime...
As a freelance convention planner, I stay at many hotels over the course of a year. I spend about a week per trip in an all-expenses-paid suite of my choosing, doing nothing but studying the location and interviewing the staff on hand to get a...
Notifications
