And now for something completely different ... I Had a Dream Last Night. Lexxie’s showpiece silver dragon glistened in the waxing moonlight. Shadowed by their timeless ally, Ancient Oak, they worked like hammer and tongs.
Category: very short stories
The Moon and the Arrow
(400 words) Old man Tatum had been dreaming of his grandchildren, Sonny and Sarah. They’d all been treading dry pine needles in a huge forest, on their way somewhere. He couldn’t remember where. Then he was aware of pressure on his legs. In an eye blink, he realised someone was sitting on the bed. A young woman, skin as pale as the full moon burning through the curtained window. He thought his heart would pound right out of his chest, then she smiled, and suddenly he was calm.
A Pebbly Beach at 3 a.m.
There’s no moon. Black waves heave and collapse, frothy foam sighing over a myriad of pebbles, like some gigantic water feature. Peeling our clothes off, it feels like we’re doing something illegal. Shauna is a luminescent blob. “Should we go in?” she asks, her timbre saying ‘Let’s go home.’
Dust to Dust
(600 words) The door creaked open and we were in a long entrance hall. The dust on the carpet was visible and a thick film of it coated a hall table holding a dead, brittle succulent. There was an overwhelming smell of must and neglect and something intangible too – loneliness.
The Window Crack’d
(650 words) There’d been no problem getting a gondola ride. For the second day, a thick white mist hung in the air over the city and at the gondola station at San Moisè the vessels had loomed out of the fog like Viking ships. A man in a pink T-shirt with horizontal red stripes and a body-warmer had appeared from nowhere. “You wanna ride, signor e signora? Is foggy. I give you special price of sixty euros!”
The Butterfly’s Revenge – A Short Horror Story
(400 words) Leah glances anxiously around the waiting room. Everyone looks so calm. How the hell can that be? The waiting room is dim, perhaps a dozen men and women of all ages sit, staring ahead as though unseeing. The door opens and a bright light behind him silhouettes the towering figure of Dr. Chansette, a giant cockroach, six feet high. His antennae wave. “Miss Leah Hope?”
Guest Post: Until the Nows Come Home
Until the Nows Come Home by PETER RUNFOLA (400 words) “Honestly, I really just don't feel like doing that – or anything, truly – right at the moment. But ... later? Yeah, sure - I'll do it later.” So says This Moment. “Yeah, right – that's my name – lovingly coined by my dear mother, Here, & equally dear dad, Now.” “And, they're both quite proud of their little brainstorm ... in name anyway. Now {oops, sorry, Dad} if only I could live up to the immediacy imbued into my very being.“
Arse from His Elbow
(550 words) The sleek black police car pulled up, just ahead of a man, tall, leaning forward as he walked, as if forward motion was the only thing preventing him from toppling over. He had a distinguished face, probably handsome when young, thinning grey hair, silver steel-rimmed glasses, and a long nose. He looked up with surprise. Joshua got out of the police car. “Hi, Buddy, what are you doin’?” “Who, me? Just walking.” “Why? Don’t you know what’s on tonight? The final of The World’s Got Talent!” The man’s face looked blank. “I don’t watch TV.” “Don’t watch TV, you cannot be serious! Come on, man, everyone’s glued to the screen right now!” “Well, not me. I just wanted some … fresh air, exercise, you know.” “Actually, I don’t know, buddy. Think about Little Thelma, right now probably singing her heart out with The Nation’s Favourite Song. And you say you don’t wanna watch her!”
If Two Witches Were Watching.. (400 word version)
(400 words) Aspects of the cottage were unusual to say the least. A large white, winged-devil gargoyle hung to the left of a handwritten sign - Haunted Cottage. Julie and I exchanged glances. “Welcome, you found the place then!” A short woman in her sixties with a mop of long, incongruously-black hair answered the door. “I’m Mary. Come in.”
The Fabled Fox
(400 words) Persistence had paid off. The lady in the purple coat had shadowed the hunt many times without success, but today she came upon the hounds, surrounding a fox, the huntsmen yet to arrive. A window of opportunity!
A Saucerful of Bullshit
(400 words) “Control of the media. That’s what’s going on!” Frank’s pale blue eyes were staring, his face flushed, and his mop of ginger hair tousled. “I’m telling you what I saw. There were a couple of hundred others, at least. They saw it too!” “Calm down darling, I’m not saying I don’t believe you. It’s just ....”
Medium Rare
(300 words) “Have any of you been to a demonstration of mediumship before?” Most hands in the hotel’s comfortable bar area went up. Miranda's and mine stayed down. A young man, Peter someone, tall and slim with receding hair, smiled. “Well, I’ll be making contact with those who have passed over into spirit.” This should be interesting! Sceptical, I’d come under protest.