Short Fiction
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Food is medicine. Chartreuse leaves sparkled with vitality. Megan had tried yogi. She had tried mediation and deep breathing. Megan had even prepared for a 5K well she bought sneakers. Nothing made her feel better. She held up a bunch of celery to the morning light and beamed. With reverence Megan broke off each stalk…
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Moira twirled in front of the bathroom mirror. Her bohemian paisley dress hung loosely on her elvish frame. She shut out her tongue and then raced to her bedroom closet. From the other side of the Jack and Jill bathroom Kat watched her sister while pretending to play with her phone. Moira returned to the…
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My name’s Ardent Pureheart; I have nine brothers and sisters. We live in two bedrooms in one of the FaithHostels. I tend the heifers with my brothers and many cousins. We pray, work, eat, raise children, bury our dead together. The Shepherds told me it’s time to marry, to increase. In modest garb, the Chosen…
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“Well, um, hello,” Ramon stammered. “Well, hello yourself. Aren’t you the handsomest thing?” Evie said. “And you’re blushing? Priceless.” “I’m not used to compliments. I- I-“ Ramon coughed to hide his stutter. “I don’t believe that. A big strong man like you, you must beat the girls away with a stick. When Amelia told me…
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The kitchen is quiet. The sun hasn’t yet risen. I hoisted the 18 pound turkey off the fridge’s bottom shelf. This bird is much too big for us. I should have gotten a turkey breast or even a duck but then that wouldn’t be a real holiday. I peeled off the plastic covering. The raw…
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Day 7 I hummed mindlessly. A nursery rhyme looped in my brain as I turned out of my complex’s parking lot. I was running late for work. Hopefully the blue route would be reasonable traffic this morning and I would only be my usual late. Hopefully. I drummed my fingers on my steering wheel. When…
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With one eye on the ribbon of highway and one eye on her phone, Quinn looked if her favorite true crime podcast had dropped its latest episode. Score! She thought and hit the accelerator as the spooky theme song filled her speakers. “Hey cats and kittens this is your prince of primal fear, Spring…
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Rafe gave the newcomer a friendly smile that didn’t reach his eyes and then returned to swabbing the bar top. Wrapped in a trench coat with a fedora pulled down over one eye, the slight woman came in out of the night. “What can I get you, sweet—“ Rafe met the woman’s eyes and his…
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On the edge of a mining town Jackson and Josh’s mom’s SUV squealed to a sudden stop as a lizard of some sort raced across the road. Caleb crashed from the backseat onto the floor. “What the hell, man!” Caleb shouted. His almond-shaped eyes grew wide as he took in the scenery. An ocean of…
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Plates clatter on the dining room table. Chairs scrape across the oak floors. Cousins laugh as they race around the sofa. Pat and Pearl drive down the highway. Mary Grace sets down the turkey. Uncle Joey applauds and loosens the belt on his favorite stretchy pants. Little Sophie kicks Taylor under the the kids’…
circular staircase 