Harvest

First Posted: Oct 25th, 2022 Last Updated: Oct 25th, 2022 Farmer Roland Watkins set the swather rolling forward, the blades slicing through the alfalfa with a satisfying snick, snick. The sweet scent of fresh cut hay filled the cabin, bringing a smile to the old man’s face. This was a good day. It would have been better, if this were the beginning of it not the end. Most of the day had been...

Watchman’s Log

First Posted: Oct 23rd, 2022 Last Updated: Oct 23rd, 2022 Year One: June 14th Night had long since fallen when I stepped out of the stairwell and onto the deck. A bright waning moon beamed down from a star filled sky, burning through the wispy clouds that flitted across its face. The hot humid air weighed heavy on my lungs, like breathing through a wet blanket. Uncomfortable, but I knew by three...

Full Stop

Synopsis: Jadine drove throw deep snow to get to work at the gas station she manages to find herself face-to-face with a big-shoed psycho. She’s starting to wish she’d called out.

Status: Completed

Last Updated: 11/28/2022

Read-Time: 75 min.

Part 1: Page 1

Part 2: Page 8

Part 3: Page 18

Part 4: Page 24

Part 1: Send In The Clowns

An eerie quiet greeted Jadine, as she stepped through the back door. Only the sound of her own footsteps, sneakers squeaking against the tiled floor, reached her ears. Goosebumps broke out on her arms. Absently, she rubbed them away; stashing her wet coat, dripping melted snow, into her locker as she walked by. The air felt pregnant with foreboding.

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A Pontiac In Phantom Gray

Last Updated: 10/27/2020

Status: Completed

Part 1

It was a crisp autumn day when the moving van, stuffed to the very top, turned onto the long dirt driveway that led to the old farmhouse. From the car following behind, ten-year-old Rupert Laust shrugged out of his seat belt and leaned forward to rest his chin on the seat in front of him. In the rear-view mirror, his reflection perched between the heads of his parents as if he also sat in the front seat. Rupert didn’t want to look at himself. The sadness in his own eyes bothered him. Sliding closer to his mother, he looked out her side of the windshield.

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Rats

The air was cold as it blew in through the open window, the scent sweet. The fragrance was the first thing that felt out of place on that late September night. With her palms pressed hard against the wooden sill, Margaret stared out into the cornfield. The only light came from the soft, hazy glow of the moon, alighting only the tops of the corn leaves and the swells of the uneven road. Whatever...

To A Tee

Jasper stood silently surveying the mangled mess that, yesterday, had been the metal frame of a new convenience store. The freak mid-spring storm that had blown through the night before, had left the structure twisted and broken. If he didn’t know better, and he did know better, he’d think a tornado had hit it. Now after weeks of hard work, the building looked like a Dali painting. Throw in...

Window

I bolted upright in bed, my whole body shaking. The sheet, damp with nervous sweat, stuck to my chest which was throbbing. After a few moments of wrangling my heart back to a slight pound, I gathered my thoughts. That same damn dream. The afterimages of the nightmare fluttered around like thin newspaper scattered by an unfelt breeze. Hands still shaky, I peeled sweat-drenched hair from my face...

The Book Man – Part 2

(This is the second part of The Book Man, to read the first part, press here.) Rue spent Sunday in bed. Twice her mother roused her enough to get some soup into her, but exhaustion soon stole the girl away again. Monday morning, Rue awoke from a sound and dreamless sleep to find her mother standing over her. Cool hand pressed to the girl's forehead, her mother wondered aloud about her daughter's...

Watcher In The Shadows

The ship was dark. Not as dark as the space it drifted through, but what little lighting still worked in the interior was weak, casting feeble splotches here and there to illuminate the cabin. Not long ago, the ship had hurtled through space like a shooting star. That time had ended. The ship had slowed, and soon the light would go out entirely, plunging its occupants into darkness. The woman,...