Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Fiction.
The Shutdown
The voices were loud – harsh whispers of frantic panic drilling ragged holes into Avery’s thoughts – but her footsteps were louder. The heavy click of her ugly, leather school-shoes on the glossy tiled floor echoed all around her, bouncing off the walls of her skull like a game of Pong.
By Alyssa Potter5 years ago in Fiction
Walking in LA...
Georgana adjusted her pack as she walked in the direction she hoped would lead to the only water source within a 50 mile radius… at least, according to her half moth eaten map. It was missing some chunks, but still served her purposes most of the time. Georganas’ shoulders were strong but not yet accustomed to the pressure and roughness of the straps. She wistfully remembered a time when her shoulders were free to feel the sun and the wind instead of the sweat and accumulated dirt between her skin and the pack, which held all that she owned. Shaking off the memories of a sweeter time with the reminder that she needed all her senses alert in this new world, she made a fist with her hand and peered through the tiny hole made between the curl of her fingers and her palm. Her self-made tiny telescope gave her a clearer view of the horizon. She scanned left to right, a habit she had acquired to watch for dangers. If she spotted people or animals far enough off, she had a chance of dropping to the ground to hide before they saw her. In the scrub brush and scattered rocks, she could still make herself scarce… even in the flat, desert terrain of what used to be Los Angeles.
By Anah Reichenbach5 years ago in Fiction
Beyond Symbiotic
Today was the day. Today they would meet. Scott sighed, looking out at the seagulls in the river as they stood on old pilings, with sea lions going up and down in the water on the upriver side of the pilings. The different animals cared nothing for one another, yet they both seemed to show up in places that had pockets of fish.
By LP Steinbeck5 years ago in Fiction
With a Pop and a Click
There it was again. A pop and then click, soft and subtle, but absolutely a man-made noise. Where was it coming from? What was making the noise? Liv inched around the burnt-out shell of the iconic blue Wal-Mart building in her small hometown of Waterloo, Illinois. A place that used to be the only box store for miles around was now just an open wound reminding everyone around of what they had lost. An empty bright, blue carcass of the American dream left torn and shattered, amongst the landscape of the corn and soybean fields. What was once a quintessential small Midwestern town, born from German settlers migrating out of big cities, was now just another mar on the map of this new world.
By Stephanie Lewis5 years ago in Fiction
Humans Only
“Sorry ma’am, I’m afraid your pet is going to have to wait in your ship,” An armoured security officer said as Sheila and Robert, an old anthropomorphic tiger, approached the gates to a human only compound. One that had a reputation for anthropocentric and specist ideals. The pair had been enlisted by a nearby community of anthropomorphs. Loved ones had been going missing, including a young deer named Waashkeshi. His parents had given Sheila a photo of him, a simple heart-shaped locket hanging around his neck.
By Kelsey Reich5 years ago in Fiction
Save Your Last Breath
"Breathe. I need to breathe." Listen, and use your imagination. The oxygen levels were depleting fast. Pollution made way for every manner of sickness—but the government leaders never expected the very earth to turn against them. Plants and trees withered away to nothing, and the soil was parched in every corner of the globe. Even the rain forests, the last sanctuaries, became deserts over time.
By Jillian Spiridon5 years ago in Fiction
USA mythical creatures
USA mythical creatures that might be real… part two. Number one is the Hawaii Menehune. The Menehune is a dwarf that is said to inhabit the deep forest and hidden valleys of the Hawaiian Island. They are described as amazing craftspeople, they build temples, fishponds, roads, canoes, and houses. Some of these buildings still exist. They are said to have lived in Hawaii for many centuries before settlers. Their favorite food is said to be the mai’a or the banana, they also like fish. They are said to only appear at night to build, if they do not finish the building they will leave it unoccupied. Only their kids and humans connected to them can see them. Number two is Idaho Sharlie. This is a sea serpent much like the loch ness monster. It is said to inhabit the deep waters of Payette lake which is near McCall, Idaho. The first tale of these serpents is from the Native Americans which stated that evil spirits inhabit the lake. The first sightings were documented in the 1920s and said that the creature was about thirty to thirty-five feet in length with a dinosaur-shaped head and a pronounced jaw, it also had humps like a camel and shell-like skin. Number three is Indiana Beast of Busco. The Beast of Busco is a giant snapping turtle, it is said to weigh around five hundred pounds. It lives in a lake that many farms had owned and reported to have seen it. Though many people reported they have seen it a search had taken place and turned up nothing, the creature was never found. Number four is the Illinois Enfield Monster. This is an unidentified creature that was sighted around Enfield, Illinois. It is said to possibly be an ape or an escaped kangaroo. It was reported to have three legs, with a short body, two small short arms, and two flashlights sized pink eyes. It stood about four and a half feet tall and had a greyish color. Number five is the Iowa Van Meter Monster. The Van Meter monster is an eight-foot winged creature that has a forehead horn that shoots out a beam of light. Number six is the Kansas Sink Hole Sam, Locals have speculated that the eel-like creature had been living in a prehistoric underground cavern that had filled with water from a sinkhole. This flooding allowed the creature to finally escape. Fishermen reported seeing something that was 15 feet in length and as round as an “automobile tire.” Number seven is Kentucky The Kelly Little Green Men/ Hopkinsville Goblins, Space goblins were the explanation for the little silvery-green-eyed men who tormented the inhabitants of the Sutton farmhouse at Kelly one UFO-filled August night in 1955. If these diminutive aliens don’t sound super-frightening, take care to note that bullets bounce off them like metal! The earliest reports on the incident did not refer to “Little green men.” That color was added later by the national media. Early sightings described them as silver with a greenish silver glow. Number eight is the Louisiana Rougarou/ Loup-Garou, the Rougarou is said to be a werewolf/ shapeshifter. They say it has the body of a human and the head of a wolf, but they have also been said to be a human-otter or a were-cow. It is said to have glowing red eyes and razor-sharp teeth. Number nine is the Maine Specter Moose, this creature is unlike any other in which it is nice just like most people of Maine. It is said to be an enormous ghostly white 10-15 feet tall with formidable antlers, it’s said to glow faintly and can appear and disappear at will. And finally, number ten is the Maryland Chessie. Chessie is Chesapeak Bay’s, Loch Ness monster, it is a camera-shy water monster. It could be an oarfish or an alien. She has been shy since there was video footage of her in the 1980s, perhaps it was because of overfishing. Witnesses have described her as a serpent-like creature with flippers, she is said to be 25-40 feet long. She swims through the water like a snake.
By Maria Johnson5 years ago in Fiction
Bothered
“Catherine, stay close.” Catherine and Eliza followed the natural pace of the crowd, the one set by museum and travel tour guides, by tourists, by art fanatics, and by students doing their assignments. The two girls were all and none of those things. They loved art, were tourists, were students, but they were not there for assignments. They were there for jobs.
By Noémi Blom5 years ago in Fiction
Surviving by the Lake
Surviving by the Lake Clifford and his ten year old granddaughter rested on a bed of pine needles under a big Southern pine tree up the slope leading down to Caney Lake. Cliff had opted to stay behind when his seventy year old body couldn’t keep up the pace of the six younger people in his group as they looked for food or tools overlooked by scavengers who had come through before them.
By Cleve Taylor 5 years ago in Fiction
An Astronaut’s Point of View
I read through the print-out the doctor had given me again. Common symptoms include nausea, stomach and back muscle cramps, bloating, constipation, diarrhoea… All relevant to me. I couldn’t really dispute the diagnosis. Sighing, I placed the pages beside me on the bed and ran my fingers through my hair.
By Alicia Brunskill5 years ago in Fiction
