Short Story

Moving Day

Written for Sunday Whirl Wordle – #733. Our host
is Brenda Warren and these are our prompt words:
thistles, horns, stiff, treat, wee, chirping, fit,
down, stick, blushing, out, and moment.
Here’s where the prompts  took me.

Continue reading “Moving Day”
Short Story

A Dangerous Profession: Part 1

Written for OLWG #395 where this week the three
prompts are 1) carving out a niche; 2) I suppose;
3) no doubt about it, as well as
Melissa’s Fandango
Flash Fiction Challenge #298
, FOWC β€˜sunrise’, FOWC β€˜bother’,
FOWC β€˜aunt’, FOWC β€˜fascinating’, FOWC β€˜folks’, FOWC
β€˜decision’ and FOWC β€˜infinite’. This is my story.

Continue reading “A Dangerous Profession: Part 1”
Flash

Sticky Fingers

Written for Friday Fictioneers where our host Rochelle
asks us to use the photo below as inspiration

to write creatively in 100 words or less while
making every word count. This is my flash.

Continue reading “Sticky Fingers”
Short Story

The Condo

Written for Six Sentence Story where this week
we are challenged to use the word β€œfaint”
in a story of exactly six sentences. Here’s mine.

After the boating accident, I returned to New York but didn’t have the heart to stay in the condo where Kevin and I used to live; I drove to my parents’ beach house in Amagansett, leaving the apartment untouched, thinking to return one day when I summoned the courage.

Too many memories and sleepless nights at the beach house brought me no comfort or closure …. an impossibility since Kevin’s body was never recovered …. and I now found myself back in Manhattan staring up at the window of my old condo and seeing ghosts …. ghosts of Kevin.

An overwhelming force drew me closer and I slowly entered the building and climbed the stairs to the apartment we once shared. Approaching the door, I could hear faint music, laughter and the sound of familiar voices; a man and a woman were inside, unaware of my presence as I stood outside the door for what seemed a lifetime …. and in that passage of time I knew beyond a doubt who they were.

Blood pounding in my head, I raised my fist to knock on the door, then stepped back.

Resolutely and silently, I walked away.

NARΒ©2024

This is β€œGhost Behind My Eyes” by Ozzy Osbourne

All text, graphics and videos are copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk and The Rhythm Section and are not to be used without permission. NARΒ©2017-present.

Short Story

The Apartment: The Continuing Story of Harvey and Fiona

Written for The Unicorn Challenge where we are encouraged
to get creative in 250 words or less using the photo prompt
as inspiration. This is my 2nd story of Harvey and Fiona.
For another look at the 1st installment, click here.

Β© Ayr/Gray

Harvey and Fiona were as different as a gorilla and a swan but they had an undeniable chemistry and started falling in love. No one was more surprised than Fiona .… except her parents.

There was a major obstacle her parents couldn’t overlook – Harvey was Jewish. Fiona’s very Irish-Catholic father hated Harvey, calling him β€˜Christ killer’ and β€˜kike’.Β  Her mother was crushed. β€œJesus, Mary and Joseph! Can’t you see he’s no good for you? I don’t trust him, Fina girl!” she warned, crying into her apron. Fiona would not be dissuaded; with a heavy heart she closed the door of her childhood home behind her and never looked back.

Harvey and Fiona were married in city hall, the judge and his clerk their only guests and witnesses. After a weekend honeymoon in Niagara Falls, the couple settled into Harvey’s tiny apartment – a walk-up on the fifth floor with a depressing view of factories and government buildings.

Harvey worked the graveyard shift as a printer at the local newspaper, seven days a week from midnight till 8:00 AM. His fingernails were perpetually stained with black ink. The first morning he came home from work and saw the newly decorated apartment, he yelled furiously at Fiona for spending his money on unnecessary things. Uncaring, he left ink stains on the new bedspread when he sat down to remove his shoes.

Fiona cried silently in the kitchen. Harvey sidled up behind her, kissed a spot below her ear and she leaned into him.

NARΒ©2024
250 Words

This is β€œLove With The Proper Stranger” by Jack Jones

All text, graphics and videos are copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk and The Rhythm Section and are not to be used without permission. NARΒ©2017-present.