Everything felt a million miles away. Cliché but also incredibly true. The kids down the block were still playing, the digital picture frame still flipped through to new pictures, even she was still getting ready but she couldn’t feel anything. Nothing seemed to be connecting to her either. The laughter from curtains she and her sister had…
A Beautiful, Thorny Rose (The End)
Originally submitted in the Owl Canyon Press Short Story Hackathon 5, where the first and last paragraphs are supplied. Writer A and B each pick an ending and then alternate writing paragraphs 2 – 49 so that they end on their respective ending. Below are paragraphs 26 – 50A & 50B. Walking, turning into a…
Beyond the Cell
The charge brushed up against the cluster. Tight-knitted, each cell moved as though it were a connected, inseparable part of the greater unit. No cell for itself. The current ran through the unit, igniting each piece, a small jolt. Like the mother of the bride before a surprise baby shower; too big a smile, eyes…
A Beautiful, Thorny Rose
Originally submitted in the Owl Canyon Press Short Story Hackathon 5, where the first and last paragraphs are supplied. Writer A and B each pick an ending and then alternate writing paragraphs 2 – 49 so that they end on their respective ending. Below are paragraphs 1 – 25. No coverage, not even one bar;…
Daily Dose
Ellie clicked off the line. Her shoulders dropping faster than the call. It was hard enough burying someone, making all the arrangements, taking their wishes and balancing them with your own ache for someone you loved. A mother, a father, even a selfish, two-faced monster in law. . . Ellie had buried them all. Both…
Score
Mike’s gaze drifted from the road to his girlfriend, Ali. He was doing his best amid the traffic to 84 to smile. The gift had been a sweet one. She didn’t know enough about football for it to be anything but. As she had pointed out a half a dozen times, the drive to and…
Depth
The edge was there, underneath her toes. It felt like the texture of popcorn and concrete. Grating and cold. It was possible that everything she wanted was there, just out of her reach, unless she was able to just. . . Small cuts broke out across her skin. Tearing, snagging. Wind ripping through her hair…
In a Blink
It felt like a deafening weight had been cast upon the world. She was sure birds were chirping somewhere as the sun was setting in the far distance, but she couldn’t hear them. She couldn’t see the light sweeping over the landscape. The last moments of evening preparing for their departure. “Goodbye, Aurelia.” Each syllable,…
All the Glory of God
The ground crunched underneath her weight. Her back rose and fell with heaving breaths as it moved through her. The gravel shook beneath her hands, her knees, her forehead. The tops of her shoes buckled, caving in on themselves from the pointed rocks. Sobs rolled through her, wrecking her. Chessie felt the small pebbles, the…
Overstaying
The spicy notes of cologne wafted onto the balcony with the flurry of Spanish. Rico telling tales of fish back home in Costa Rica, bigger than the kids he was talking to. It clashed with the stale stink of cigarettes and quiet. Mel was surprised at how much she had tuned out. The neighborhood below…