Cherrypicked stories
Steelie 19

The boy was growing tired. Von Stehle could see it in the way his head lagged to one side and the way he no longer caressed the material like he was...
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- 920 reads
Xion Island Carrier: Chapter 18

The interview room was cold, but James McAlister didn’t seem to notice. He was still. Paler even than the day of the funerals, and the room was...
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- 234 reads
Death by Selfie

strangely unaffecting to see lives lost in this way is that a shocking thing to say? guy falls from building filming himself doing handstands on the...
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- 8 comments
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- 629 reads
Xion Island: Chapter 17

I am filled with hatred. And, to my disgust, something close to nostalgia. The flesh remembers things the memory has never known. I tell her my name...
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- 206 reads
"Mr. Nothingsworth"

Mr. Nothingsworth, proprietor of the “Whatnot” shop of castaway things and oddities, was a self proclaimed curmudgeon. The old coot loved to annoy...
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- 8 comments
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- 607 reads
Spring
I heard it again for the first time in a very long time, through cheap earphones while walking over uneven ground, wind clattering against...
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- 1 comment
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- 173 reads
New Directions (38)
The idea of going up North to stay at Karen’s temped me. I figured at least I’d get to sleep with her when she got home. Then I remembered the last...
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- 7 comments
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- 630 reads
Undisentanglable!

Been having shopping delivery for a few years due to Covid and personal health issues. Works well most of the time, but last week the pies I’d...
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- 7 comments
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- 678 reads
Murder in the Tesco Express

Based on a series of events witnessed over a number of years in my local convenience shop when I lived in the sleepy English town of Chippenham.
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- 18 comments
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- 1666 reads
Xion Island: Chapter 16

Barrow had precisely two pubs that didn’t belt out karaoke on a Friday night. Nash had picked The Townhouse—a low-lit place with real ale, decent...
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- 10 comments
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- 877 reads
Question (Episode 11 - The Further Chronicles of a Young Lady (and her Maid))

Aefelthrith is posed a question and Gwladys has to give an answer.
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- 4 comments
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- 464 reads
Fussbuckets

Rain came on as I walked. Naturally. If only I’d had that emergency umbrella I purchased the other day, the one now sitting in my hallway unused,...
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- 10 comments
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- 1015 reads
Treasure of Sensory Impressions

that solitude that excites the mind, where time is of no importance; wealth of meandering purple view pleases senses, such miracles are like a lovers...
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- 13 comments
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- 1194 reads
Alfredos: After Michael Donaghy’s ‘Shibboleth’
Alfredos After Michael Donaghy’s ‘Shibboleth’ Vacationers at Tahoe windows. The morning sky painted by seven year old boys wild on their birthdays...
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- 3 comments
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- 443 reads
Dead Man: 3

The bus was crowded, as usual. Workers heading into the city, like himself. John sat downstairs at the back, over the engine, in the warm odour of...
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- 7 comments
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- 703 reads
Steps

Wind chimes tick off the hours Melodic sounds wind me to sleep With tentacles of passion flowers. The blue nigellas, ladies-in-the-mist, veil...
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- 2 comments
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- 351 reads
Float Downstream.....

Where the restless mind wanders are untried adventures fantasy and mystery in uncharted landscapes Illuminated by sparks of intrigue just beyond the...
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- 10 comments
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- 922 reads
J. C. Jones V - Let us Eat

“Oh, no, no, no, not this time,” said J. C. “Everyone! Get yourselves to the other side of the table. Mary? You slide closer to me. Judas? Front and...
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- 21 comments
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- 2336 reads
Fraction too much fiction

The moment I discover his figure among the former students and teachers; it is as if a piece of rusty barbed wire is being dragged along my...
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- 7 comments
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- 766 reads
Flamebearer

(for those who walk both worlds) Some glide in light— barefoot through fields, faces bathed in sun, never knowing the weight of shadows behind them...
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- 6 comments
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- 613 reads