Jill in the Box!
By Albert-W
A number of my short stories with, what I hope, are unpredictable endings. Subject matter, between them, is totally varied.
The essence is summed-up in a little rhyme that I wrote to precede the thing:
The children open the Jack-in-the-box
Out pops Jack
Some laugh, some shriek, some run away, then
they force the joker back
The children open the box again
Jack pops out
You'd think they were not expecting him
from the way they fall about
But soon they tire, discard the box
to begin adventures new
They know that Jack will always be there
or, at least, they think they do...........
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- 960 reads
Acrobatic Lady
ACROBATIC LADY by Albert Woods In the room, there were no visible clues, no mementoes, there was no aura - yet Stretch felt it must be the right...
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- 428 reads
CHEAT THE HANGMAN
Some of the womenfolk would make a play for Abel. He knew that a lot of them got a special thrill from bedding a hangman; only, he didn't much care for it.
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- 756 reads
CIRCUIT BUG
It would be an incalculable fortune, growing by monstrous proportions during every second of every minute of every day; round the clock, non-stop, forever. In time, every living man, woman and child would be paying royalties to Michael.
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- 452 reads
COMMITTEEMAN
"So moved, Mr. Chairman," said Claude Oakes, before they even had time to discuss the issue. "I'll second that." Then they raced to the pub.
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- 582 reads
DESMOND PROCTOR'S DUMP
Kirkbride knew nothing about the science of computing. And that was just as well; for if he had, he would never have agreed to Desmond Proctor Sellotaping the electrodes to his temples.
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- 1034 reads
GOFFIN'S COFFIN
Ha, tee hee, we chortled with glee, when we buried that shitbag, Goffin. None of us, ever liked him much, which is why we bought him a coffin. (Spot of black humour, here).
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- 788 reads
Jill on the Box
Jeremy Burton isn’t sure whether he’s hallucinating or simply going mad. All of his friends can see and hear TV personality Jill Gibbs when she appears; but not Jeremy.
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- 5488 reads
STICKY FINGERS
But for the action on the wheel, absolute silence reigned. Click, click, click... the ball hopped from segment to segment, running, betweentimes, up and down the central hub. Click... click, it bounced again, this time in and out of twenty-nine, and in and out of eight. It changed direction on the rebound. Then... click! it finally dropped home
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- 469 reads
The 'Good Book' Says
We’re all God-fearin’ folk in our Bible-Belt town. Well… on Sundays we are – if you know what I mean.
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- 688 reads
The Other Side
Old Thorpie likes young girls - especially greedy ones.
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- 440 reads
The Very First Time
"You mustn't let dirty-minded men do things like that to you," Mother used to say. "You'll go to hell if you do."
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- 1451 reads
THRICE DISOWN ME
Father Kennedy is thrilled that his parish church is about to be fitted with a new stained glass window depicting Christ’s crucifixion. Not so Vincenzo, however. He wants the existing image of his personal patron saint, Peter, to remain – and intends to see that it does.
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- 489 reads
VIATICUM
Is it surprising that Father Dominic should be astonished when the undertaker arrives to measure-up the very much alive Father Michael? Spot of black humour.
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- 655 reads
Wrong again, Karen
Pressed into a double date by Karen, Beth isn’t keen on her chap. But she still agrees to cook for the four. Something spicy!
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- 1995 reads
WELFARE STATE
Captain of industry and insatiable profit addict, Frederick Hogg, wants to see an end to ‘State handouts’. His boyhood chum (and serial layabout) Percy Swanning, has a somewhat different view.
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- 721 reads
ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD
"Three, two one..." the announcer's “zero,” has the whole globe synchronised with the atomic clock at Greenwich - the one time recorder still functioning; the one that will be stopped, for good, in an hour's time - when it all goes live.
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- 939 reads
NORMAN'S DOG - Part 1 (of 2)
It was Cormley Crag's gruesome history that kept the faint-hearted villagers away. All stayed tight-lipped on the subject - except old Norman.
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- 538 reads
NORMAN'S DOG - Part 2 (of 2)
By the time that Joshua reached the last grave marker, the light was beginning to dawn; not in the sky, but in his consciousness - though it was quickly extinguished when somebody clubbed him.
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- 459 reads
THE SILENT ORDER OF THE REDEMPTION
Extremely short - and eerie, I hope.
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- 408 reads
NO MILK TODAY - Part 1
A tale of greed in Tinseltown. Who's conning who here?
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- 689 reads
NO MILK TODAY - Part 2
Is anybody going to get their comeuppance?
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- 2 comments
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- 846 reads
IF I WERE A POLICEMAN
I'm not a policeman. I don't suppose I'll ever be one, either; but that doesn't stop me from sometimes imagining that I am.
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- 3104 reads
ANOTHER FRUITCAKE
According to his analyst’s diagnosis, Edward’s aversion to his own name was yet another manifestation of his invented neuroses. All he really needed, by way of treatment, was attention.
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- 785 reads
THE SILENCE OF NATURE
True account of the huge price a man paid for being himself.
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- 772 reads
THE EXTRA-ORDINARY MEETING
A venue had been difficult to find. Nobody wanted them. At this one the innkeeper was told they were monks.
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- 529 reads
FLAW
If this account exists, it will mean that there is a serious miscalculation in the Professor’s theory, so please read no further. Avert your eyes. But if there is no dissuading you, then may whichever god you worship do more to protect you than mine, as the existence of this document attests, has done for me.
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- 451 reads