Fear

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…stared hard at her. “You don’t look that scary.”

She snickered and tilted her head to the side, as if to acquiesce. “I get that a lot.”

She waved her hand nonchalantly in the direction of the Ferris wheel that had suddenly appeared. “After you...”

“Uh...wait. Hang on. I take it back. You’re extremely intimidating and... and... WAIT. NO!” He shrieked as she gingerly rested her hand on his shoulder and he begins to walk towards the carnival contraption against his will.

His eyes rolled back in his head and he begins to wail in earnest as his body…

By L.E.

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Inka's Curse Part 14: Rachel

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…inspect the bodies to see if anyone’s still breathing.

We slayed them but one. He instantly disappeared and I have no idea what his true form is. I don’t think I saw it. She didn’t see him either. I do know he was the one that bites the guard in the neck.

“Let me go with you. I can protect you.”

“Why?”

“I don't know why. I just know it’s urgent.”

“It’s about the enchanted sword. They saw it’s true form. I bet you do too.”

“I do but that’s not it. Believe me.”

“I don’t think I can do…


By Cristina Collazo

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Signal Fires: The Inundation

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The last stand and ..hope.

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…alight all along the watchtowers of the black Dreamscape Wall. I extort brilliant the banners as yet unfurled, that my courage will suffice for the glory of the forthcoming invasion. We must hold the salon till the breaking dawn. The foundation stone must anew its self. Awaken! My heart cries. The for death is at hand and seeks to destroy my spirit!

All is quiet behind closed doors, but the city sleeps in a restless dream. However, you will, divine some scary signs before the black Dreamscape Wall and pray the gods to hear your…

By RayFed

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Inka's Curse Part 13: Centaurs

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…shiver crawling up my back and my spine. Then one the men scream out. He is being assaulted by one of the men…

The guards try to stop him. A fight breaks out. The man begins transforming. He becomes a centaur. His nostrils were flared wide. 

I struggled to pull out my sword, whipping around as I felt hot breath on my neck. 

My heart stopped as I was suddenly encountering another centaur. 

“Give me the sword, or I’ll take it after stomping you to death.” His front horse legs lifted up. A smirk crossed his face. 

Next, to him…

By Cristina Collazo

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Adelaidean Gothic

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…was a certain middle age, white male, straight, Sports Reporter (yes its a cliche but some cliches are true) who thought he was a real laydeez man. No, it was not the ex-footballer, he was the polite and respectful one. This other dude liked to chat up and talk smutty smut with anything remotely female. You know the type.

One of my co-workers, who I will call Kay, was a cool young female, older than me, who dressed a little alternative and had good taste in bands. She would never go along with his smut talk, unlike some of the…


By Melvin Fechner

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Inka's Curse Part 12: An Attack

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…tighten the fur coat Ruth carefully provided me. The coat is uncomfortable bulky, but it keeps me warm and hidden.

A frail boy is walking tiredly around the square ringing a bell and shouting, “Fire, fire!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Near the entrance, some outsiders started some trouble.”

I continue anxiously on my way as he shouts frantically. 

Walking along the ruined wall I can see where it began. It didn’t get very far. The thick wood was damaged and stained blackly.

Chief surrounded by concerned civilians wanting answers. “There was an attempt to burn down the village. The…


By Cristina Collazo

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An Ugly Fool

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…did she begin fearing the person she saw in the mirror? When did she start seeing herself as a monster? Susan wondered whether her obsession with her outside flaws automatically meant that she was hideous on the inside. Was the image she examined just a reflection of who she was as a person?

Susan had always hated her neck. She used to always look down to not reveal it. Susan’s father would yell at her in the car when she was sitting in the passenger seat because she was so used to concealing it that she wouldn't sit up upright. Susan…

By Cristina Collazo

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Inka's Curse Part 11: Ruth

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…you heard of what happened to ..." Ruth begins saying.

“I know already, and I have to go by there. So please no more tears. You’ve cried enough for me.”

“But a dreadful thing has just happened. So many innocent people are dead. There are even rumors that the most magnificent wizards can’t understand what had happened there.”

Her eyes were inflamed and red-rimmed. She had been crying. Now I’ve made things worse for her. Maybe I shouldn't have stopped by. I wonder how often I hadn’t made it home on time that she would assume I was…

By Cristina Collazo

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Venomous Repentance

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To anyone who has ever been sexually abused... you are not alone. You are not your wounds and I pray that you heal as best that you can.

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…invited you to come take a seat with me on this branch and for some reason you felt the need to push me. You shoved me and I know you believe that by doing so you released whatever demons that lay inside of you. Perhaps you thought that the words that came out of your mouth would somehow dissolve your actions into the night…

By Taylor Amber Rose

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The Berry Pickers

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A piece from my third novel, The Berry Pickers

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…wakes up early, squinting at sunlight raging through grimy windows and ripped white curtains, yellowed from years bathed in cigarette smoke.

The room was cold. The sticky sweat of summer faded too quickly to this frigid morning.

He reached down to the floor, found yesterday’s shirt, still buttoned halfway down, and pulled it on over his head. Reaching in the pocket he found his Lucky Strikes and his Zippo lighter.

Hacking and coughing, standing and stepping on an upturned beer bottle cap, cutting the bottom of his foot, he swears. From…

By William Lobb

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