My name be Rebeccah Hankins and I am a maid of twenty-nine years, member of the First Parish and citizeness of Dedham township. I been called to His Majesty's court to answer charges against me. Missus Sarah Threadgill says I stole a half-penny from her purse, which ain't true. I work in the Threadgill house as their servant and I am no thief. I cook their m...
CHAPTER THREE "Already our child weighs heavy on me and slows my labors, my beloved." My darling wife Alta casually mentioned to me late one evening, just after mid-summer. "I sure that it does!" I congenially replied. Already her belly was quite swollen and she still had several months left before the child was due to be born. "Indeed, I'm quite falling...
By Luna she was beautiful! Her eyes blazed with the threat of thunderstorms, crackling as if lightning flashed through their depth with a force to incinerate anything in its path. He was in her path. She wanted to kill him, that was obvious and he really couldn't blame her. He could admit that he had put her through hell in the last couple of hours. Having b...
Horror isn't my usual genre for trying to write something — or, for that matter, my choice for my own entertainment when it comes to books and movies — but I thought I'd give it a try for ChloeTzang's event given the "night" theme. So, I'm an utter novice at this. Plus, I thought I'd try something a bit ... tonal? Recipe for disaster, I know. This isn't a...
[This account is translated from the original German and may contain some inelegances of style; for which I apologise. It is based on a real-life record but some details have been changed to protect privacy.] * Report of Dr Heinz Kaufmann, Director; Das Krankenhaus Fridschoff, Wien (The Fridschoff Hospital, Vienna) Dieser Bericht ist Ein von nur acht Do...
Band 11 -- Planung Osten Die Abenteuer eines älteren Fotografen Kapitel 31 -- Die Genehmigung An diesem Morgen weckte mich Ilse etwas sehr unkeusch auf. Sie schlotzte schon in aller Frühe an meinem edelsten Körperteil. Nein. Nicht am Kopf, sehr viel weiter unten. Dabei war es erst 5 Uhr und draußen noch Nacht. „Da bist du selber dran schuld", wurde mir...
Nora, die 32jährige, 1,65m große, wohlproportionierte Staatsanwältin hatte es sich zur Aufgabe gemacht den größten Drogendealer Hamburgs endlich in den Knast zu bringen. Und sie war sich sicher ihn diesmal zu bekommen. Es hatten sich schon einige Kolleginnen und Kollegen daran versucht, einige hatten einfach aufgegeben, andere waren korrupt und hatten sich a...
This story, my entry into the 2015 Winter Holidays Contest, owes much to my friend and editor, AlwaysHungry. Any remaining mistakes are my own. I hope you enjoy the tale, and vote. Chapter 1 - Hospital Blues Her mother barely squeezed Simone's fingers, then whispered, "I need to tell you something, Mona..." Her mother then exhaled, a belabored rasp, until...
The second depression changed the world. The rich stayed rich while the poor got poorer and eventually started to kill themselves. People hated their lives. People hated working for a few pennies a day. Eventually, the rich started to go poor. They couldn't afford their workers to keep killing themselves, or stealing, or (the more popular fad) burning down t...
Paradise does not exist. I'd spent enough time in postardesque destinations to realize that it's all a front, a beautiful slight of hand. Where there's white sand, blue water and warm breezes, there's also cockroaches, dengue fever, eight-dollar heads of broccoli, over fishing, cyclones and drinking water swimming with parasites. Paradise does not exist. Th...