Eight fantastic short stories
If you’re like me and the real world’s got you down this week, I got you covered with a record-high eight (8!) lights-out short stories. Two short stories involving cellphones by Kelly Robson, new ones by blog faves Amy DeBellis and Katherine Plumhoff, plus work by Mark Ifanson, Chris Scott, Nathan Leslie, and the very first T&W original by Kevin Light-Roth.
Want to submit a story for consideration? Please do!
Zen by Kevin Light-Roth
His truck repossessed by a bail bondsman, a reluctant teenage boy attempts to track down his wanted mother.
It’s the first story published at T&W, and it’s a barnburner.
Median by Kelly Robson
It starts with a PSW’s car breaking down in the median of the highway. Not only can Carla not reach 911, she starts to receive mysterious and distressing calls herself.
Her phone rang.
“Hello,” she yelled.
A kid’s voice: “They’re fighting. He’s hurting my mom. Again.”
Landline by Kelly Robson
This story unfolds like a film in the style of Locke. A teacher is headed off on a class trip to London when her six-year-old son calls, alone and scared. My palms were sweating as I read this.
“It’s dark,” Liam said, his soft, little-kid voice barely audible over the crackle of the landline. “Daddy’s not here.”
“What do you mean, honey?” Amanda asked her son. “Is he in the bathroom?”
“No, he’s gone.”
Julian by Nathan Leslie
A retired restaurant critic with health issues comes back for one special meal. It sounds lovely:
Dragon’s breath chili, blood clams, casu marzu cheese, nomura’s jellyfish, apple seeds, even fugu and sannakji, the raw, still moving octopus tendrils.
I was queasy reading this. Perfectly executed.
I Don't Know What Wind Is by Chris Scott
Approximately thirty seconds before dismissal, one of my first graders asks me what wind is. I freeze up, sixteen first grade faces watching me, they all suddenly want to know what wind is, right now, right this moment. I’m 41 years old, and I honestly have no idea.
This story isn’t about wind, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I read it. No spoilers, just read the thing.
Another Night in Pittsburgh by Mark Ifanson
Roger and his friends get into the cocaine business and things, well, don’t go as planned:
It was a simple plan, like they say in those movies I can never remember the name of. Jules and Jason and me, well, we weren’t totally straight when we came up with this, but it sounded good, and seemed fairly safe. Besides, we needed the cash.
This roped me in so quickly, and goes places I really didn’t expect.
CLUSTER by Katherine Plumhoff
Perennial fave Plumhoff writes about Laura who just lost her mother:
People say they see their dead moms in blue jays and buttercups, robins and rhododendrons, but mine told me she’d never come back as something so abominably dull, and to keep an eye out for spiders.
It’s a bit Tim Burton, and it’s lovely.
Marrow by Amy DeBellis
DeBellis is so good at dropping one sentence that builds an entire story around it. There’s a reason she’s a favourite around these parts.
In this case it’s this line:
Although it is true that he has not hit her since he learned she was pregnant with his child.
