ShoRt StoRieS
Captive’s Choice
A man tracks down
a demon only to uncover a soul-crushing truth.
tHe pRematuRe piLgrimage
A man makes his last trip to
a place of significance.
peRfectioN
A girl’s attraction to a dangerous man leads her
to a dark place.
The snail sighed. His shell cut deeper into its back.
A single tuft of dandelion danced to the breeze, carefree against the azure sky. Almost.
The snail pondered the pebbled pavement, stretching from its tentacles to the horizon.
The snail sighed.
The dandelion continued dancing. The snail inched forward.
micRofictioN
The octopus paused, extending an arm to place a rectangular box on the seabed.
A seahorse at the edge of the reef
looked on.
The octopus pressed a button on the box and muttered, “Time to go!” The seahorse stared, bewildered, fanning its tiny fins as the octopus swam away.
Hans tightened a barbed wire around his heart. One that, just moments ago, swelled with joy at seeing her eyes light up as he approached her. He held his breath at the sudden pain.
It’s the right thing to do,” he chanted to himself even as the words rang hollow.
Blood roared in his ears, amplifying his ragged breath and the pounding of his footsteps instead of drowning them out.
He twisted his head as far back as he dared without slowing down. The shadow closed in on him. A crack whipped through the air just as darkness engulfed him.
Greg pressed his lips to Elise’s hand.
He looked into her bright eyes, wishing half-heartedly he could blurt out the words jammed in his throat.
“Goodbye, Elise,” he said, releasing her hand.
Then he turned to leave, letting loose tears tinged with regret, resignation and relief. He never looked back.
Sybil twirled her staff over her head, forming a trail of iridescent dust that cascaded down to curtain her petite figure.
Next to her, a lanky teenager checked his nails. He stifled a yawn as the glitter disappeared the moment it settled, revealing a burly man standing in her place.
Overgrown shrubs obscured the house at the end of Tong street. Once loyal subjects of the regal four-storey structure, they were now a hoard of zombies mobbing a frail old man.
One nondescript night, a light suddenly flickered in the highest window of the abandoned building, breaking decades of stillness.
Greta squinted at the screen.
“No, that did not happen... No, that’s not how I remember it... Okay, I’m going to add something there...” she murmured to herself as her fingers tapped and swiped the rectangular panels of memory that her eye recorded during the day around.
“Now, that’s better.”
John stared out the window at the grey, inky sky. Seated at the foot of his bed, his still posture was a contrast to his scrambled thoughts.
The stuffy air in the cell scraped his raw nerves.
“Grieving parents are the worst,” he mumbled, as he itched for a joint.
There are times after watching a movie or drama that I get lots of feels, and I put them into words. This batch was written after I watched Spider-man: No Way Home. I picked three lines from the movie and used them as prompts.
Are you okay?
I had to ask
even though I knew she was
because there was once
when she wasn’t
and time just stopped
for me.
No...
time kept going.
I tried to keep up
but I couldn’t.
It flew. I ran.
I couldn’t
keep up.
Then I saw her fall
again, and I flew
through the air.
I flew with time.
I went back in time.
I wished I could’ve.
So when she asked
Are you?
I said yeah
even though I may never be
because she wasn’t her
and I can’t
go back in time.
I’ll see you around
It was on an unremarkable winter afternoon when I first met him five years ago.
He came into the donut shop, introduced himself, and ordered a coffee.
Under normal circumstances, I would have found his intense stare creepy. But there was something about the untold stories threatening to spill out of his shining eyes that gave me pause.
The words that were never uttered hung in the air, foggy and indecipherable.
”I’ll see you around,” he had said instead.
But I never saw him again. Until today.
Trying to do better
when you’re reminded that those whom you’ve loved and lost are rooting for you
when you’re aware you lost your cool because the going has gotten too tough
when you‘re determined to make those who love you proud of you