Month: October 2021

“Bye, Clive, thanks for the ride.” Mark waved as he headed up his front walk, mask in his other hand, his step a little unsteady. It had been that kind of party. “Later, Mark,” I called back, watching him go. My vision swam a little, but not for the same reason Mark’s probably did. It was late, it had been […]

Slowly pulling the tap on the keg, his natural nervous tendencies, always making him a little nervous that the tap could pop off and spray him with beer, Terrance glanced around the crowded party, sighing to himself that he had found himself in a very familiar position. Every year was the same; he would resist his friends’ urges to come […]

The old-fashioned brass shop bell swung and rang over the opening door. I looked up from my phone as the cool air entered. Small costumed figures could be seen running around outside, shrieking happily in the gathering dusk. Two figures entered the shop, an excited little girl clinging to the arm of a tall woman. “Please, Mommy! Please!  It’s so […]

What kind of jerk broke up with their girlfriend on the morning of their favorite holiday? Derek. That was the jerk. They had only been dating six months, but it still stung. Especially since their costume was a couple’s costume — Linda and Bob Belcher from the cartoon Bob’s Burger — and she couldn’t show up as Linda without a […]

“Duckies!” yelled his squealing five-year-old. The poor little guy had yet to comprehend the massive changes that were about to happen. To him, grandma and Papa’s house was where he got to watch the ducks with Papa and tussle with their two very patient retrievers. He tried to bolt down to the pond as soon as Mike lowered him from […]

Reginald Peregrine, or Reg for short, sat at his desk, in the museum’s basement, surrounded by the museum’s uncatalogued antiquities. This had been his only job from school and was his dream job. He could work quietly cleaning and cataloguing artefacts on his own in the depths of the museum. This kept him away from the public and any casual […]

“Fi, are you trying to break a leg?” The question rung out louder than I`d meant across the forest. The trees had an unnerving way of distorting sound. My sister Fiona turned around on the log after regaining her balance. “Don`t be so grumpy, Liam,” she replied with that unbearable smile, which had been plastered on her face since leaving […]

The early afternoon sky was grey and darkening, promising snow. The doors on the old Tohoku Shinkansen line closed, still smoothly. It would be just 5 hours to Aomori on the Northern tip of Japan’s main island, Honshu. Not as fast as the hyper-loop, but this one offered windows and time to think. The station receded, as the train snaked […]

This was the first Hallowe’en party Josh had thrown since he graduated from high school the previous June, and he was very happy to see that it was just as big a success as the ones he had thrown when he was still in school. Josh had acquired a reputation for his Hallowe’en parties, and he was glad to see […]

Jimmy, like many other people on this planet, hated his job. To him, the position he found himself in ran off of what he calls the three A’s; aggravation, agitation, and aggression. Every word has constantly remained applicable to every facet of his workspace and the people within. What, pray tell, is this catastrophic career choice of his? None other […]