Short Story

it is life, Mama!” Mama: “Oh—so now its life. Money is life. Once upon a

The beeping of a monitor was getting annoying. With the sterile smell and constant humming of technology, Corvus could have really used some music. His body ached from the fight he had won, ached from the damage that was finally catching up to him. His bones had broken numerous times, something he could easily fix. However, now he was just getting his energy back while the lab coat people ran tests on him. They didn't need his consent for anything given the fact that this hospital was not really considered such, but it was the only place he could really go while staying under the radar of the native population here that would be happy to see a bounty hunter like him floating dead in the ocean. Obviously, this was something he did not want,

Mother kisses the top of Clem's head and calls for Dad to bring her school. He sets his newspaper down and gets up. He walks over to me and kisses me on the forehead and grabs my hand, giving it a firm squeeze. This is an odd gesture to me seeing as affection is not necessarily allowed in our city. Apparently it is a form of self-indulgence, which is frowned upon in Rauhallinen.

''Wait. Look.'' She said, pointing at the video. ''Right there, where the police reinforcement arrived.''

constantly picked flies out of my milk pail and had to be careful that one wouldn’t land in my opened mouth. I once killed a fly by smashing it between my lips. I became desensitized to the tingling of their legs dashing up and down my skin. Maybe that’s how I built up an immune system that tolerated germs and made me less susceptible to getting sick. Like how a child would hold out a finger for a butterfly to land on, I would do that same with my hundreds of fly friends. The continuous buzzing sound of the flies throughout the farm almost became therapeutic to me.

“What the hell is he doing here?” John asked when he opened the motel door to see his son with Sam Campbell.

He watches as she shivers like a leaf and keeps her smirk under shuddering lips.

It was Saturday morning and I had just woke up. I received an email from the coach that coaches one of the best teams. I could not believe what I had just seen. On the email it wrote “Dear Victoria, I had watched you play in a few games, and I think you would be a good addition to my team. Would you want to come to practice tonight?” I thought to myself, I am not good enough, so maybe I should not go. But as the day went on, I actually thought that I should go just for the experience.

Tony marched resolutely past the kitchenette, until he was standing flush with the brick wall, just in the shadow of the fridge. His projection was strong enough that everyone could hear him as clearly as if he were standing beside them, even those of the group whose heels had just barely left the steps. “I think we were all a little caught up in the moment last night, but there was one last thing I meant to letcha know about.” With his typical full-faced smile and stratospheric eyebrow-waggle, he reached up and passed one hand right through the wall. “What kinda gnome would I be if I couldn’t make ya a nice door, huh? Big enough for everyone to fit through, no worries there. Should spitcha out right between the dumpsters behind the bar. It’s not glamorous, but better to come in that way than through the front door every time, yeah? Keep an eye on the service entrance to your left when ya leave, but otherwise, no one’ll be back there this time of night. All clear.” He thrust his hands into both pockets proudly and took a look around the room. “I’ll leave it open for ya, too. Don’t forget! I don’t want anyone tryin' to get a snack, goin’ for a nice lean and endin’ up

He continued to talk with no expression on his face, “She was my everything. No one understood me like her. When everyone turned their backs on me, she was there.”

An unsatisfying supper of turkey along with a few sides short of all the trimmings had awaited Phillip when he got home from Inez’s place.

Once upon a time animals could talk. When god gave Adam and Eve the privilege to roam around the garden and to eat off any tree except for the tree with the apples, he gave animals the same privilege except for, he gave them something extra. God gave animals the right to talk and walk, but under one condition, he said “You disobey me once then I take one of your privileges away”. All the animals were good and respectful to God and obeyed all his wishes except for one which was Mace the monkey. Mace the monkey felt like he didn't have to listen to anyone but himself, he didn't want anyone controlling him, Mace wanted to take god's spot so he tried to think of a plan on how he could do so.

Taking a large sigh, Taehyung dragged his feet to the location Yoon Sik pointed at, before peeking behind him, eyeing the man with the large gun. He obviously didn’t have a shred of kindness in his eyes or even posture. Taehyung supposed Namjoon was a rare breed and he let him slip through his finger, Taehyung hissed before snapping his eyes shut and moved his finger down his jacket, shirt, jean, and even underwear. Taehyung felt exposed and very weak, but he knew it was best to keep his eyes shut, avoiding the sight of a gun near his head and avoiding the sight of a chubby old man eyeing his body as if he was a doctor, when

He rolled his eyes at me and looked down at his shaky hands. I looked at them too, wondering why he was so nervous all of a sudden.

The low murmuring in our head rises to a shout when we step through the doors of the institution. It's here to help, it's here to help it's here to help it's here to- The voices in our head were suddenly shouting over each other, desperate to have their opinions heard. Were gonna die! Were gonna- Help me! Help m-