Tag: Short Stories
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Firestarter
Scene: Boardroom, Stratodyne Aerospace Headquarters, circa Now The conference room shimmered with chrome surfaces and LED screens, a mausoleum for billion-dollar decisions. Aloysius “Al” Riparini, CEO of Stratodyne Aerospace and occasional reader of Popular Mechanics, slouched in his ergonomic chair like a sullen Apollo. He forward, hands steepled, his face carved in the grim expression…
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The Ghost of Mittelbau-Dora
Von Braun’s steel-tipped dreams hum with blood and gasoline. A factory of shadows, all twisted spines and raw hands—dying by the hundreds, whispering curses in languages he never cared to learn. “Build me a ladder to the stars,” he says, boot heels clicking on the concrete, the sound swallowed by the choking wheeze of the…
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The City of Ten Thousand Doors
The room has been thick with smoke, curling in lazy rings under the ceiling fans, the walls stained amber in the dim light. Tangiers has pulsed outside, the city flickering in neon, shadows shifting like restless ghosts. In the corner, beneath a cracked light, the boss has leaned back in his chair—Moroccan leather, worn with…
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Pigfuck and the Sisters of Mercy #2: A Fable
Once upon a time, in a forest crawling with filth, corruption, and fat-cat lobbyists, there lived the three little piggies—known far and wide as the Sisters of Mercy. They were a fine-looking bunch, all dolled up in their little blue suits, tails neatly curled, ready for the cameras, always chattering on about justice and equality…
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The Long Runway
The colonel stood before the vast, sun-bleached expanse, squinting into the distance. The desert stretched on forever, flat as a dinner plate. In his hand, he held a rolled-up blueprint, its edges curling from the dry wind. Behind him, a gathering of officers waited—silent, sweating in their khaki uniforms. A half-mile away, the airstrip shimmered…
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A Load Off My Chest
They didn’t grow the pie, didn’t retire. They stayed. Sat on the nest, getting fatter, tighter. Locked their grips on whatever scraps were left, and called it progress. That’s what they told themselves—progress. Progress for who? Not for us. Not for the ones who came after. The ones who had to scrounge for the crumbs,…
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Riddles
1. What am I? I am the shadow of regret cast by two cruel suns, but I burn less bright. I am the bitter fruit that is eaten, but with fewer seeds. I am the choice that stings, yet I sting less. I am the poisoned apple, but with a sweeter bite. 2. What am…
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The Astrologer
In the annals of forgotten kingdoms, there lived an astrologer whose name has slipped from the tongues of men, but whose arrogance remains etched in the memory of history’s most peculiar fables. He was not an astrologer in the traditional sense, for his craft did not concern the mere movements of planets or the transient…
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The House of Shifting Sands
In this whodunit, Detective Harlan is called to a lavish mansion to solve the mysterious murder of the eccentric Lord Fitzroy. The mansion is filled with guests, each with their own secrets and motives. However, what makes this investigation bizarre is the presence of a relentless moving crew hired to clear the house. As Detective…
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All the way Down
Imagine a small, unremarkable town called Nered. The residents of Nered had a peculiar habit that became the stuff of local legend: they insisted on “marrying down” intellectually. It was a tradition as old as the town itself, rooted in a philosophy that prized mediocrity as the true mark of contentment. The townsfolk believed that…