The Pitanga Tree

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The Pitanga Tree is one of 22 short stories from my book, "The Skipping Verger and Other Tales".

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…was never permitted to set foot in the attic. It was the boys’ room and her brothers defended it like possessive knights in a medieval castle.

The attic at Brambles, the family home in Surrey, was where they played with their trains and soldiers and, as they grew, where plots unfolded out of reach of little sister. It was also the natural store room for school trunks and forgotten things. To be fair, Alice never ever wanted to interfere with the boy’s…

By John Reid Young

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Hell is Thicker Than Water

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Bronwen Eld struggles to decide on whether he should go to Hell as the Devil's heir by choice or by force.

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…town was consumed in an inferno. Those who were unlucky enough to be touched by it were screaming in pain and pleading for a mercy that they would eventually grow to learn would never come. A trail of bloodied bodies that were either dead or dying lead to the source of the chaos. He continued to walk slowly without a hint of remorse, as he looked around at the outcome of what he started; he knew the denizens of…

By Monique Star

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Lizard

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This is a back story that will be featured in an upcoming collection of short stories.

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…were plenty of reasons why she started doing it. Pastors don’t make a lot of money to begin with, and being the pastor or a small, rural church of one hundred souls certainly won’t net you a six figure income. The income Dan made being a pastor had to be supplemented, so early in the marriage she had found ways to pick up odd jobs here and there, using her many and varied talents. It was talents, after all, that had convinced her that…

By a stump

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Strategic

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…everyone else actually happy to be here with the fluorescent poison sliding down their hair follicles, pounding away at keyboards and dying a little more in each cubicle, each day? Look at Hammer; his fat face all squinched up as he lets loose with more of his stupid jokes. And oh sweet Christ on a biscuit! I’m going to start including every um and uh and belch from each junior associate and up.

Davis transcribes tapes. Currently he’s working at a somewhat sketchy law firm and is booting up to transcribe this morning’s sessions but first he just has to…


By Remington Write

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The Do Over

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…last mortal act was murder. 

Now, prowling the dark places, she wonders about karma and redemption. And what a really good pastrami sandwich would taste like. 

She was standing where she always stood on the platform, well away from the crowded spots by the stairs and turnstiles, reading. Let the rest of the cattle shove themselves into the middle cars. Even when she didn’t get a seat, she at least had some breathing room by coming down here to the end of the platform. 

Sometimes she gazed idly at the steps that led down into the tunnel and wondered about…


By Remington Write

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I lost a mango but found a DREAM

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A story of how childhood misfortune situation propelled one to chase a bigger dream.

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…ripe one! Hit the ripe one! exclaimed the stubborn adventurous voice in me. Coupled with my hunger on a hot Saturday afternoon, as my patchy dried lips could no longer be greased by my saliva, and my barefooted wandering about had yielded no result. I sighted this beautiful ripe mango, defying gravity as it hanged on the biggest tree that gave shade to passersby and family or friends who waited fervently for visiting hours to enter in to the Suleimana memorial…

By Hamza Ayub

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The Mind of Layla

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Layla never really believed in UFOs. She has a rude awaking and so the the Aliens who are in her bathroom!

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…the hell is up and talking loud enough to wake her up. Layla open her eyes and raised up on her arms. She couldn’t believe it. Standing in the doorway of her bathroom, was a short grey alien like you see on television. She felt something try to push into her mind, but the alien couldn’t do it. Layla reached for her gun that she kept under the pillow she didn’t sleep on. Relief went through her as her hand grasped the gun. She felt a harder push and raised the gun, shooting the alien in the head. The alien fell to the floor. A tall darker grey colored alien stepped into her view. Layla watched as the tall alien turned his head sending power towards her. She shot him before the power tried to push into her mind. It stopped as soon as the darker alien joined the other alien on the…

By Hope Strong

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Unexamined Rituals

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Written for Burning Man 2017 on the theme Radical Ritual

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…first time Joey crossed himself at the threshold of the church was because he saw Auntie Sue doing it. She did it smooth and ladylike so Joey felt a little self-conscious but he saw other guys, grown men, doing it and that was enough for him. When his older sister, Marie, came along with them (which wasn’t very often) though, she didn’t do it. Marie didn’t do most of the stuff that people around here did. Joey and Marie, they weren’t from around here except now they were because Daddy…

By Remington Write

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The Robot’s Stew

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…cleans and cooks for the woman and the cat. When it is not doing its job, it was on 'rest' mode. It never sees the woman, just the cat. 

It was always nice to the cat. It was programmed to do the task at hand. A list of chores to do in the same order in the same way every single day. That never bothered it. Nothing should be able to bother it. 

The cat was its only problem. The cat was always watching it. 

Every time it had to clean the litter box the cat would attack. The cat…

By Cristina Collazo

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The Stop

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What happens when the oppressed stop playing by the rules

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…saw him in passing. Just another car, another citizen driving, unremarkable in all aspects except one. He hit the wailer and took off down the road after him. His was heart beating fast and his adrenaline was coursing through his blood, amping his attitude and getting him ready to meet the enemy. He called it in over the radio keeping the specifics to a minimum as there was no real reason to approach as of yet. Thankfully he was given the latitude to stop and detain anyone he deemed…

By Isa Pulley

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