Category: Short Story
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Devil’s Handshake by Rebecca Kamps
A deal–with one handshake her fate was sealed. Not her fate exactly, but his–both of theirs. Let me start at the beginning. Clara and Nick. Clara carrying a notebook in the back pocket of her jeans, jotting down images, characters. Brown snow. Tall man with a…
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Good Evening My Friend by Zach Keali’i Murphy
The weekend after Gabe got fired from the auto repair shop for accidentally causing an electrical fire, he took a Greyhound up to Albany to see his grandfather at the memory care center. The moment he’d been dreading for the past three years had finally come – his grandfather didn’t…
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Dandelions by Marques Bullock
“Like a single divine lily in a field of dandelions.” Sean sprang into consciousness, out of his maze of thoughts, startled by the suddenness. He had not realized there was anyone sitting there. He regarded the man, discreetly – slight but not frail, pale but not ghostly, at least 80…
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The Girl and the Box by Kayligrace Moody
The Girl was silent as she stared at The Box. It had been at her doorstep when she had awoken. Its sky-blue cardboard was battered in the way a box of old postcards found dusty in an attic might be. It had that antique, mysterious air to it, and The…
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Gino by John Carmen Harper
“Right. Well, wow. I don’t think anyone’s ever asked me that before,” Sal said. The detective sat with his shoulders back and his left leg over his right. His body was relaxed, but his pupils were matte black saucers devoid of any reflecting light from the cramped interrogation room.…
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Coexistence by Renee Jolivette
Hantavirus can extinguish its human host by filling the lungs with fluid. Deer mice carry and spread the virus. It doesn’t kill them. That’s my job. Kill or be killed. After our wedding, my husband and I buy a home in the woods. Our ramshackle outbuildings are overrun. I…
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The Four Deaths of James Edward by Michelle R. Brady
James Edward the Third entered the world like a limp bruise—purple against the sterile room—in a silence that hurt my ears from straining, stretching and stretching, taking with it his brain cells and future. Some of you will know what I mean. I’m sorry for that. The only thing…
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The English Nude, 1898 by Madison Bowman
The studio is exactly like him – cold. It’s too big to be kept warm. The ceilings are too high. The blankets too thin and the gas stove too expensive. I am always cold here and I think, maybe he is too. But he must like it. He must be…
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In the Presence of Angels by Martin Perlman
Deep within Denver’s pediatric hospital, Henry Sokol sat at the brightly lit Market Place Food Court where he had barely touched the day’s special, a pasta puttanesca. He hadn’t eaten in more than sixteen hours. “Try some soup—tomato bisque, quite good,” said his wife, Arlene. Concern showed in her…