Out of the frying pan, into the fire.

by Galen over 3 years ago

"I'm not stalking you, I swear," she said to him as he stared across the produce section in the grocer.

"Oh? The coffee shop by your office I could understand. The subway too. Maybe we live on the same line. The movie theatre might have been a coincidence. And the cologne section at...   Read more

Hell's Highway

by jadetine over 2 years ago

The open road was an open mouth. The dust rose in hissing strands. The sun berated us from every angle and the A/C was spewing out its soul. They called this Hell's Highway.

It was barren, filled only with the amber hues of fatigue and discomfort. We drove onward in silence, as if the merest hint of conversation would cause...   Read more

Heisting Nicely

by jadetine over 2 years ago

They crouched to peer beneath the stairs.
"Did that blade seriously just nick my ankle?"
Brody grabbed a stalk of grass and shook it in front of the step. A pair of scissors lashed out and bisected the leaf and receded into obscurity.
"It looks like Jiro's back." Myka pulled a long, desperate drag out...   Read more

Pigeons?

by the-arraignment over 2 years ago

"Bad way to go," said Detective Renfield. He was standing over the body (or what was left of it) with his arms akimbo.

I sighed, adjusting my hat to better shade me from the hot sun. "Fourth case this month," I reminded him. "Maybe city hall will finally get serious about the pigeons after...   Read more

Stowaway

by jadetine over 2 years ago

They were trapped for seven days. The airlocks were blinking green and somewhere in the deck below, the supports creaked and machinery rumbled. My little brother continued playing his hand-held game, while the rest of us tried to make contact with other ships.

We were floating above the 3rd moon, it's deep northern crater eying...   Read more

Dead.

by NYgirlLovesCA over 2 years ago

The sun had been on her body for 6 days now. Beating down on her pale skin in the Pennsylvania field. Arnold was driving by and saw something strange, and of course it smelled awful; it was 85 degrees that July 4th and he was headed to Grandma Beth's for the pig roast. He pulled his white pickup to a halt, the dust flying behind him into...   Read more

The Question Box

by osbornec3 over 2 years ago

This is not what Steve had in mind when he signed up to test the virtual reality technology at work. Not at all. He thought it would be unicorns farting rainbows. But this was ridiculous.

The scenes were patterned after video games. Not because the team wasn't creative, but because that meant the testers didn't...   Read more

Lost in the woods

by kirkis over 2 years ago

I'm in the woods. I have no idea how I got here or where I am. I remember the number 4. What does that have to do with anything? Was I playing video games? I think I was in search of finding the answer to my question. Or was I trying to find the question? The answer was change. Yes, that was it. I had about 10 quarters and I...   Read more

You would think I would be better at this by now

by the-arraignment over 2 years ago

It had been three weeks now, to the day, that Mira James had been absent from class. Mrs. Pendleton sighed with regret as she rubbed Mira's name off of her desk. Truancy was a sad reality that she was powerless to stop, and the school always needed to make room for new students.

She rummaged...   Read more

Found

by tony_mcfadden over 2 years ago

'Kenya.'

I looked up from my book. 'Huh?'

'Kenya.'

'Can I what?'

'No, the country. Kenya.'

'Yeah, okay, in Africa. What about it?'

'We found him there. He's working in an aid camp for Somalian refugees.'

'Him? Who?'

'You know who...   Read more