30-Day Flash Challenge, Day 20 Other monolith stories I’ve written: Monolith Monolith 2 Monolith 3 – Tammy’s Choice Monolith 4 – Many Miles Away Monolith 5 – Wendy’s Well Part 1 (the prequel to this story) “Yes, sir, the stairs just sort of went away. I can’t explain it any better, Sheriff. I’m… Continue reading Monolith 5 – Wendy’s Well Part 2
Category: weird fiction
Cuando el Sol y Luna Eran Amantes
30-Day Flash Challenge, Day 18 Even after all this time The sun never says to the earth “You owe me” Look what happens with a love like that It lights the whole sky Hafiz The Karankawa people had a legend, one of the greatest love stories ever told; they called it “Cuando el… Continue reading Cuando el Sol y Luna Eran Amantes
Amina’s Birth-Tattoo
30-Day Flash Challenge, Day 17 February 28, 2195 Ultimately everyone on station Magellan had to pull a tour of duty on earth. During the lottery, Amina drew an eighteen-month assignment to NorCon Station 7. Situated in Antarctica, Station 7 sat at one of the harshest climates on earth. When she got her job… Continue reading Amina’s Birth-Tattoo
Amina
30-Day Flash Challenge, Day 17 February 28, 2195 Ultimately everyone on Magellan had to pull a tour of duty somewhere on earth. The administrators liked to pretend that it wasn’t mandatory, but it was. During the annual lottery, Amina drew an eighteen lunar cycle stint at NorCon Station 7. Situated in Antarctica, Station… Continue reading Amina
The In Betweeners
30-Day Flash Challenge, Day 15 The problem with disguising interdimensional portals as a door or window is eventually some busybody will try to pass through it. Then the gig is, as they theatrically say, up. T. S. Livingstone, Memoirs of a Traveller Margaux and Philippe were thrilled with their new house. She was his mother;… Continue reading The In Betweeners
Mirrors 3
30-Day Flash Challenge, Day 13 Hold it up sternly! See this it sends back! (Who is it? Is it you?) Walt Whitman, A Hand-Mirror At first, it was just a campaign of rumors. At least that’s what most folks told themselves. Some misinformation spread for some reason or another. But then, after enough… Continue reading Mirrors 3
The Mars Option
30-Day Flash Challenge, Day 12 Lieutenant Commander Sheila Sykes squeezes herself into the tiny Martian cavern. Technically she is breaking protocol with this unaccompanied entry, but she has a hunch. The rock in front of the cave had seemed an unlikely coincidence. It looked way too circular, uniform, evenly shaped to be a random occurrence.… Continue reading The Mars Option
On the Lam
30-Day Flash Challenge, Day 11 This is the third installment in this story Finding the Glasses Around the Fold I make it to Gstaad before being captured. But it’s not one of Bobby’s goons that catches me. It is the entity that left me the four-dimensional sunglasses. I felt jerked sideways as in… Continue reading On the Lam
Marty
30-Day Flash Challenge, Day 10 “Son? What son? I have no son.” Sonia can still remember the detective’s words to the policeman and Tony’s expression. His father’s words appeared to hurt the teenage psychopath more than Marty’s stabbing had. An honest cop had learned that his son was one-half a serial-rapist team that… Continue reading Marty
Moonglow
30-Day Flash Challenge, Day 8 11:07 PM She was supposed to have gotten off two hours ago, and she is exhausted, as tired as she’s ever been. Suzy pulls her name tag off her Nurse’s smock and places it in the center console. She flicks her smartphone on, unlocks the screen, sees she… Continue reading Moonglow
Monolith 5 – Wendy’s Well Part 1
30-Day Flash Challenge, Day 7 June 1, 1964 (present) – Oswego, New York Sheriff Miller shuts his eyes and prays for strength to carry on. The tragedy has consumed his entire existence like a fire for weeks. Thirteen, that’s how many perished a month ago as Mr. Fluke led his sixth-grade science class… Continue reading Monolith 5 – Wendy’s Well Part 1
Finding the Glasses
30-Day Flash Challenge, Day 6 It was the peyote that finally pushed me over the edge and showed me how to move around the fold. I had been riding the yellow dragon for months in an attempt to visualize the fourth dimension. A two-dimensional being lives, sleeps, eats, fucks, and dies in a… Continue reading Finding the Glasses
Asylum
30-Day Flash Challenge, Day 5 We were supposed to have four solid days of good weather. We got about twelve hours, then the snowstorm hit, and for two hours, we sat hunkering down in one of the shelters along the Appalachian Trail designed for the thru and section hikers. Taylor’s smartphone finally got… Continue reading Asylum
Monolith 4 – Many Miles Away
30-Day Flash Challenge, Day 4 Earlier stories in this series. Monolith Monolith 2 Monolith 3; Tammy’s Choice Many miles away There’s a shadow on the door Of a cottage on the shore Of a dark Scottish lake The POLICE, Synchronicity 2 Folks that lived in the valley swore the sun never shone on… Continue reading Monolith 4 – Many Miles Away
Grandma’s Basement
30-Day Flash Challenge, Day 3 November 11, 1974 The presence of the new door in the basement wall strikes me hard. It shouldn’t be here; it wasn’t here before. At some point, and despite them not getting along particularly well, dad had started delivering coal to our grandmother, his mother-in-law. She kept it in her… Continue reading Grandma’s Basement
Melanie and Baker Meet Their Maker
30-Day Flash Challenge, Day 2 ‘I hate bugs,’ the man thinks as he feels its carcass smoosh inside the napkin. He loathes the crunch it makes and worries about the guts bleeding through the napkin. She closes the trash can after he deposits the wadded napkin bug ball. A second later, she returns, reopens the… Continue reading Melanie and Baker Meet Their Maker
The Lobster
30-Day Flash Challenge, Day 1 Once upon a time, it was Priscilla’s doll blanket. Then, looking for a way to help my diving prowess and get a bit more exercise, I took the navy blue cloth and created the lobster. I squint into the water, see it undulating at the bottom of the pool. Under… Continue reading The Lobster
Calling In – A Terryn and Shawn Story
There’s no way she’s going to believe me, but I should probably call Terryn, and tell her I won’t be at work today. Yeah, you have bigger problems than that now, buddy, some inner wise-ass says. I pick up my phone and call work. “Happy Massage, this Terryn. Would you like to book a massage… Continue reading Calling In – A Terryn and Shawn Story
Hershel’s Specialty Meats
A man visits an unusual butcher shop The usual suspects are all there, quail, snake, boar, venison, and even buffalo. Each is neatly wrapped in brown wax paper and carefully sealed shut with strips of white butchers tape. The man’s olfactory senses are on overload. Most people, unaccustomed to the dizzyingly wide array of divergent… Continue reading Hershel’s Specialty Meats
Around the Fold
I feel nausea rising as I reach around the fold. I shut my eyes, breathe deep, calm myself. It’s the glasses; they show too much. Moving your arm into the fourth dimension can overwhelm your senses. The air feels electric like a thousand electric worm-sized eels are wriggling across your skin. Human consciousness is constrained… Continue reading Around the Fold
Stories by Shawn 