Short Fictions - Short Édition - page 12 - all works

Short Fiction

Humor Magical Realism 5 min Mature Audience

The Orb

We're always asking for too much in this office. First it was raspberries. Now it is kiwis. The kiwis roll around on the table in our office kitchen then rot.
At work, I sit on the second floor of ... [+]

Short Fiction

Romance 2 min Mature Audience

Open Wide

Camille Clark

In college, I went on a date with the son of my mother's coworker. I couldn't remember if his name was Jason or Justin, so I spent the entire night maneuvering my way out of saying his name. He was ... [+]

Short Fiction

Joy Nostalgia Slice of Life 2 min Mature Audience

The Intersection of Humanity and Insanity

Abby Comey

The stoplight on the corner had been broken for weeks. Westway Avenue was yellow and green at the same time, while Cherry Lane was forever red. Mabel knew this. Mom and Dad called it "the ... [+]

Short Fiction

Modern Love Romance 3 min Mature Audience

First In, Last Out

Daniel Wallace

On our last day at the beach the sun came out, and the fog, which for that whole week had draped the shore in a veil of cotton, burned away: we discovered there was an ocean here, after all. It ... [+]

Short Fiction

Romance Sci-Fi & Fantasy 5 min

The Menagerie Machine

Katherine Quevedo

Zebra, Mule, and I stood abreast, as always, and studied the newcomer. Sea Horse reared up from his pale green tentacle of a tail. His upper half resembled the cavalry horses behind us, complete ... [+]

Short Fiction

Sorrow Suspense & Mystery 4 min Mature Audience

Truth, Justice, and the American Way

Cathy Tenzo

Once you become visible, it's hard to disappear into the shadows again, but Hank White was doing his level best. His life depended on it. People looked right through you when you were flipping ... [+]

Short Fiction

Nostalgia Slice of Life 2 min

Guilty Treasure

Ana Carolina Pereira

It's a sunny Sunday afternoon —celebratory day: the sun hadn't visited your city's sky in ages— and you're out in the flea market. Browsing the offerings among the throng of people: old things, new ... [+]

Short Fiction

Slice of Life Suspense & Mystery 1 min

The Brighter Light

David Drury

I was chasing my little brother through the park at dusk. The whole park was filled with restless families waiting for the fireworks to start. My brother halted in his grass-stained diaper. "God ... [+]

Short Fiction

Humor Slice of Life 3 min Mature Audience

Busy Bodies

Kurt Bachard

It was a wonder the neighbors didn't complain. And I know it's irrational, maybe even paranoid, but I imagined the old guy upstairs must have heard me crying lately and was mocking my ... [+]

Short Fiction

Humor Sorrow 4 min Mature Audience

Cora

Karen Heuler

"Who are you?" her mother asked.
"I'm your daughter, Alice."
"I know that. But I mean, who are you?" Her mother's eyes locked onto hers; she was clutching Alice's eyes. What did she mean ... [+]

Short Fiction

Humor Sorrow Portrait 3 min Mature Audience

The Secret Rules for Children of Priests

Zachary Kellian

Rule Number 1: When asked about your parentage, give suitably vague answers.

It was Jimmy Doogan, a boorish kid with freckles spread like flak across his face, who had been the first to ... [+]

Short Fiction

Nostalgia Slice of Life 1 min

The Big Curve

Daniel Wallace

The last time I saw my father he was wearing a toupee that looked like a year's worth of dryer lint, a worn-out Carolina t-shirt, the blue almost white now, green golfing shorts, and penny loafers ... [+]

Short Fiction

Nostalgia Portrait 4 min Mature Audience

Saudades

Susan Ayotte

For Amy

Emilio's mother was long-practiced in the art of summoning a saint. For a burn, she'd appeal to the apostle John. It was John who got the call twice a day for a year when Emilio was ... [+]

Short Fiction

Absurd Suspense & Mystery 2 min

Burning Man, a fable

Dennis Edelen

It came to him suddenly, as he ran down the street screaming and on fire, that he was making a spectacle of himself.
After all, this was a modest neighborhood of well-maintained lawns and sensible ... [+]

Short Fiction

Suspense & Mystery Horror Sci-Fi & Fantasy 4 min Mature Audience

The Windigo

Brandon Donovan

With a fresh kill in tow, the hunter made his way back to camp through the snow-covered forest. The weight of the stag labored his every step. A cold snap hit. Sharp, biting winds whipped icy ... [+]

Short Fiction

Magical Realism Suspense & Mystery 2 min Mature Audience

The Great Curtain

David Drury

When we awoke, we found a great curtain of linked metal rungs had been lowered to earth from the sky. The chain mail drape connected land and sky and ran as far the eye could see, across the ocean ... [+]

Short Fiction

Romance Young Adult 4 min

Snow Angel

Celeste Bonfanti

The meep of the alarm dragged me from the warmth of my quilt cocoon and smack into Monday morning. I had to bat at it four times before it finally stopped and I found my glasses. 6:00 A.M. and still ... [+]

Short Fiction

Humor Quirky Suspense & Mystery 4 min Mature Audience

The Cat Lady’s Lament

E. E. King

I never thought I would end up like this – like a tabloid horror story. Someday I bet I'll be discovered dead, here in my tiny, piss-scented apartment, being devoured by my seventy cats.
Thing is ... [+]

Short Fiction

Sorrow Love & Loss 4 min Mature Audience

Munchkin

Kenneth Margolin

When did my heart harden? How did empathy slip away? Dr. Lindelson pondered these questions in the spacious office where she had practiced psychotherapy for forty years, since she completed he ... [+]

Short Fiction

Portrait Suspense & Mystery 3 min Mature Audience

Gone

Daniel Wallace

She waited for almost two days before calling the police. Even though she knew in the pit of her stomach that something was terribly wrong – her husband had never gone a single day without talking ... [+]

A New Kind of Literary Pulse

A New Kind of Literary Pulse

The Orb

Open Wide

The Intersection of Humanity and Insanity

First In, Last Out

The Menagerie Machine

Truth, Justice, and the American Way

Guilty Treasure

The Brighter Light

Busy Bodies

Cora

The Secret Rules for Children of Priests

The Big Curve

Saudades

Burning Man, a fable

The Windigo

The Great Curtain

Snow Angel

The Cat Lady’s Lament

Munchkin

Gone