Harold’s eyes jab at the tarps again like a tongue probing a missing tooth. He sighs in disgust at all of it. Two missing teeth. Two. The first two, now two more. It’s the heat that bothers him the most today. After the power went out for the third and final time, that was the… Continue reading The Third Tarp
Tag: flash fiction
Desert Highway (a dream)
In the end, the most surprising thing about the video was that no two people ever remembered it the same. It was a modern-day Rorschach test. It was only three minutes and twelve seconds long, but people saw different things when they recounted what they had watched. One thing everyone agreed on was the video… Continue reading Desert Highway (a dream)
Wave Buddy 1000
What’s this? ‘The Wave Buddy 1000?’” he reads from the empty box on the kitchen island. “Did you buy more stuff we don’t need?” he says. He picks up the gadget’s thin instruction manual and skims it. She’s rooting around in the refrigerator. The gadget is a bowl-shaped, metallic mesh grid; he assumes it must… Continue reading Wave Buddy 1000
Wasp
MONDAY: I use the camera on my phone to see inside the bathroom vent. The buzzing sound has been a nuisance for weeks now, and I was investigating the source of the noise. I can hear it; a dry, scratchy rustling inside the walls. I’ve lived here less than a month. I’m still shocked by… Continue reading Wasp
A House with Enough Space
“I need lots of space,” Trish had told me at our first meeting. I had to solve her problem. My reputation was on the line. I wanted to point out that if she bought a house with more space, she would fill it as well, and soon, she’d be looking to upsize again. But people’s… Continue reading A House with Enough Space
Broken Toys
The limp line of people staggers out of the fog as if they had just woken up. None of them remembers what came before, none of them knows another. None of them knows what is in store for them. None of them have any inkling of what came before or the grand adventure that awaits.… Continue reading Broken Toys
What to Expect When You Can’t Remember a Meat
Drew warned me about the strange hunger pangs I’d have, but I didn’t think this was what she meant. She’d had three children. I only wanted one, but it looks like I’m getting two. It’s twins for me. Identical, at least that’s what they think. How can they know any of this? The sonogram faces… Continue reading What to Expect When You Can’t Remember a Meat
The Seventh Word
“But it’s just seven words?” Carl sips his overpriced latte and leans back in his chair. We’re sitting in the corner at his favorite Starbucks. We always meet here. His beard is flecked with the foamy milk from his drink. Jesus, Carol. What did you see in this uncouth simpleton? “That’s right. Well, that’s what… Continue reading The Seventh Word
The Mother of all Misaligned SI Joints
POP! What the hell was that? The older I got, the more I realized the importance of discipline. The son of lazy people, I grew up to be a lazy, undisciplined man. Are you surprised? Yeah, me neither. Three months before I began practicing discipline. In all areas of my life, I began rituals and… Continue reading The Mother of all Misaligned SI Joints
The Quiet Place
When at last, the manservant left me in my drab quarters, I sat on the one chair in the cabin and thought long. There was something peculiarly amiss about this place. It was more than the leaden skies overhead through which I was convinced the sun never shone on the estate my master wished me… Continue reading The Quiet Place
The Conductor
The bus jerks me awake. Or that is what I tell myself. I harbor a tendril of hope that I am still sleeping, that this is only a dream. Awake. Asleep. Is there a difference? Or some method for knowing which is which? This bus is a train. Or is this train a bus? The… Continue reading The Conductor
Ezekiel’s Tea
My morning routine is to double-check all the equipment. The lantern is rotating, shooting its penetrating light through the morning fog. Most of my work takes place at night, but on overcast days, I like to be extra diligent. I stoop and exit through the tiny door and walk the balcony around, checking for breakages… Continue reading Ezekiel’s Tea
Ezekiel’s Stairs
I look down for brother’s blue and white ceramic teakettle, but it’s no longer in my hands. Then I think something that’s not quite a memory; it’s something more akin to an echo of a memory. I dropped the thing hours ago. Maybe it was only minutes past. Surely climbing the stairs to Ezekiel’s lofty… Continue reading Ezekiel’s Stairs
Slapped
The first time your dad slaps you in public (and hard enough that you fall to the ground), you stand up fast because you know that is what he wants. Your face burns hot with shame. You glance around to see who saw. You’re not ashamed because your father slapped you—in those times, and especially… Continue reading Slapped
Under their Bed
It was Timmy’s cries, not Tommy’s screams, that woke Maddy. The three of them had anticipated a typical Saturday morning in the Balkman household: hugs, pancakes, chores, a little TV, some more hugs, and then a hike in the park near their house. No, no, no, no! Her heart was in her heels as she… Continue reading Under their Bed
Louisa’s Story
I was worried about Stuart. Everyone says twins are supposed to be alike, but we were fraternal twins; while we were alike in many ways, we were also different. Stuart had been the sensitive one. I was worried about him. When I walked through the door, I had hoped to find Misses Clendenin talking to… Continue reading Louisa’s Story
Classroom
“I tell you, it’s today.” “You say that every day, Stuart,” Julia says. He does think a lot of days are the anniversary; maybe he feels guilty about Louisa. She was his twin. Perhaps he wishes he had gone with her. I study the light in the room. Stuart might be right. The room grows… Continue reading Classroom
The Gnat on my Screen
The gnat landed on my laptop screen again. It was starting to irritate me. I wiped at it, but it flew to safety before I could smoosh its annoying ass into a drop of bug guts and blood. “Damn it,” I whispered with no energy. On the third time, I thought I got lucky. As… Continue reading The Gnat on my Screen
My Last Pair of Shoes
I slid my feet into the new shoes. They were bright yellow, festive, and fun. Just looking at them made me happy. Something was not quite right with the fit. Also, the shoes felt vaguely squishy and wet. Like I’d shoved my foot into an animal carcass. It was cold and slimy. But then Hank… Continue reading My Last Pair of Shoes
Storage Unit
I’m stuck in a simulation. That’s what this must be. This can’t be real. My legs ache. And for good reason. I’ve been walking for hours. If the sun is in the sky, I can’t see it, but that might be somewhat due to the orientation of the storage unit buildings. They are continuous and… Continue reading Storage Unit
Stories by Shawn 