A tragic fantasy tale that will hopefully drive home the point: that communication is of foremost importance in all relationships.Sixfold is an all-writer-voted journal. All writers who upload their manuscripts vote to select the highest-voted $1000 prize-winning manuscripts and all the short stories and poetry published in each issue.In Sixfold Fiction Summer 2015: Paul Heinz | I, Monster Absolom J. Hagg | Someplace South, Anywhere Warm Valerie Cumming | Among These Very Trees Jenny Belardi | The Girl in the Leather-Bound Notebook Chris Belden | Private "I" Lindsay Mohlere | Last Cast at Indian Falls Lora Hilty | Some Terrible Beauty Katherine Enggass | Ghost Floor Lee Houck | Real as Life Benjamin Schachtman | Gomorrah Kelsey Tressler | The Chrysalis Center Luke de Castro | Funeral for Max and Greta L. L. Babb | The Religion of the Rich Julie Zuckerman | The Book of Jeremiah Views: 769
John Benton was one of the toughest men ever to wear a Texas Ranger badge. But eight years ago, in August 1871, he hung up his guns for good.
Or so he hoped.
Then young Robby Coles challenged him to a fight over some imagined slight to the boy's sixteen-year-old girlfriend. At first Benton tried to laugh off the affair. Why, the boy was little more than a child. But rumors and gossip spread like wildfire through their dusty frontier town and soon enough the entire community seems to be goading both men towards a fatal confrontation neither one truly wants.
Benton doesn't want to kill again. Robby is secretly terrified of facing the legendary gunfighter. Yet, with both men's honor on the line, is there any way to avoid a duel to the death? Views: 769
It started at a smoky bar, a conversation with a beautiful woman, a night in her bed. Private Detective Murphy McEvoy can’t believe his luck. But for some, when things go too well, there is a reckoning, a balancing of the cosmic scales, and Murphy is one of those people.It started at a smoky bar, a conversation with a beautiful woman, a night in her bed. Private Detective Murphy McEvoy can’t believe his luck. But for some, when things go too well, there is a reckoning, a balancing of the cosmic scales, and Murphy is one of those people.Janine Johnson is a woman down on her luck, escaping something and new to town. When Murphy receives a desperate call and finds Janine beaten, he realizes what she's fleeing from and sets out to help her. But nothing is that easy. Views: 768
In 9th century France, the zealous warrior Ragenard is finally within striking distance of his greatest enemy, a necromancer dead-set on disturbing the natural order of Creation. Their final battle ensues; one combatant fights with wrought iron and the other with the risen dead, although all is not as it seems about the two opponents and their enmity.In 9th century France, the zealous warrior Ragenard is finally within striking distance of his greatest enemy, a necromancer dead-set on disturbing the natural order of Creation. Their final battle ensues; one combatant fights with wrought iron and the other with the risen dead, although all is not as it seems about the two opponents and their enmity.A historical fantasy/horror short story. 3,700 words. Views: 768
Why a lady Lutheran minister helped an atheist physician die contentedly. That's all I'll tell you. Click the blue below to see why. Here it suffices to say that the story is short and free. Why read a summary when with little more effort you can read the whole thing? If you can't spare a moment more, you shouldn't be wasting time reading fiction anyway. Go back to work!"One can not judge a book by its cover." So we are told. But a cover is usually the only thing a reader has to base a judgment on. Smashwords tries to aid readers by providing summaries, one short, one long, for each book it distributes. For non-fiction this works well. But this, it seems to me, defeats the whole purpose of fiction. After all, one reads a story to find out what will happen. It’s the uncommon twists and turns that make a story interesting. But if a summary has told all this beforehand, what fun is to be had in the reading? Therefore, no summary of the present short story is given. It's short and it’s free! So read the whole thing and see if you like it. I ask you to do this because I think it is the best book judging method. To find fiction you like you must first read around enough to learn something of the style and stories of different authors. Then you can judge books, not by their cover, but by the your opinion of the writer. I'd like to help you do this. The present short story is one of several which I will make available free at Smashwords. Read a few (or all of them) and decide if you like them. It won't cost you a dime. If you like them, you can then purchase some of my not free (but still inexpensive) longer stories. All these stories are of one particular kind. To reflect this similarity all have the same cover picture, the Kitty & Rose shown above. So after you’ve read a few, you can, in fact, judge them by their cover. The common theme of the Kitty & Rose stories is human sexuality. This is not unusual. Most fiction concerns sex in one way or another; ranging from romances so sedate and demure an extraterrestrial could never know sex is at the root of everything described, to erotica so unrestricted even an extraterrestrial might blush. Kitty & Rose stories are in the middle of this range. All deal with human sexuality, but none do so explicitly. Rather, they are seemly. The dictionary gives three meanings for seemly: Attractive or agreeably fashioned; Decorous or conventionally proper; and Appropriate or suited to its purpose. With respect to appropriateness, seemly sex stories range from the humorous to the inspirational, but all concern human sexuality. So they are clearly appropriate. These stories are also seemly in the decorous and conventionally proper sense. For, while they treat sex candidly, they do not do so graphically. There is nothing pornographic nor erotic in any seemly sex story. Of course, different persons’ opinions about this may differ. A few consider frank pornography decorous. At the opposite extreme are those like the abbot of the monastery where the great biologist Gregor Mendel did his epochal research. This abbot thought Mendel’s studies were decidedly indecorous because they involved the sex of pea plants! Finally, there is the principal sense of seemly, attractive and agreeably fashioned. Like every author I exert my every effort and ability trying to make these stories seemly in this regard. But like every author, I must await your determination of the degree of my success. Since both of us will be pleased if you find them attractively seemly, I very much hope you do.Happy reading!BobbyBP.S. This is the twelfth free Kitty & Rose short story, uploaded March 1, 2017.a Views: 768
In this Sorter Universe Story, a med student trapped on board a space craft has to prevent a mutiny and the release of thousands of killers from a deep space mental institution.Ever since we locked the Shudders up, we’ve never let them out. But there are a few who can dupe the psych test and go free. Most think they’d know a Shudder if they saw one. They think he’d sway like an old time snake wrestling Pentecostal, but that’s not how it goes. When the ivory tower first diagnosed the syndrome, it noticed that only the eyeballs vibrated. The second misconception is this: all Shudders are killers, or would be if we didn’t lock them up. But this is also false; only a few have ever progressed far enough into their mania that they emerge with a corpse in their hands. And the ironic thing is, these few who are truly bonkers are also the most likely to score a false negative on the tests and walk free. And they often harbor a homicidal rage about those of their kind who remain imprisoned. You see, it only makes matters worse. Views: 768
It has been six months since their father locked them in the security vault with a promise to return. But he never came back. With supplies running out and vital life support systems failing, Jack, Samantha, and Will have no choice but to ignore their father’s warnings and leave the vault. With no knowledge of what befell the world outside, or what they might expect once the door is opened...It has been six months since their father locked them in the security vault with a promise to return. But he never came back. With supplies running out and vital life support systems failing, Jack, Samantha, and Will have no choice but to ignore their father’s warnings and leave the vault. With no knowledge of what befell the world outside, or what they might expect once the door is opened, they find themselves in a world they do not recognize. Thrust into the remains of the world they remember, how will they survive on their own, not knowing what or who else remains amongst the ruins? Views: 767
Seven years ago, the Atargatis set off on a voyage to the Mariana Trench to film a “mockumentary” bringing to life ancient sea creatures of legend. It was lost at sea with all hands. Some have called it a hoax; others have called it a maritime tragedy.
Now, a new crew has been assembled. But this time they’re not out to entertain. Some seek to validate their life’s work. Some seek the greatest hunt of all. Some seek the truth. But for the ambitious young scientist Victoria Stewart this is a voyage to uncover the fate of the sister she lost.
Whatever the truth may be, it will only be found below the waves. But the secrets of the deep come with a price. Views: 767
A shot of Skulduggery action for free. It isn't easy to take over the world. First you need the scheme. Then you need the muscle. Then you need to come up with a system for ruling six billion people and keeping them fron revolting. It takes a certain kind of man to take over the world. Scaramouch Van Dreg, however, is not that man. But he has one thing going for him. He has his arch enemy, Skulduggery Pleasant, chained in his dungeon, and the only person who is coming to save him is the skeleton detective's 13 year old sidekick. What could possibly go wrong? Views: 767
First person account of an unusual turn in events after the dead come back to life.The Dead Rule the Day is a unique twist in the Zombie genre, playing a first hand account of the potential fall of civilization. Views: 767
Alternate Cover Edition for ISBN 9780425093474
To a mortician, the preparation of a corpse is an art. The smooth, silent exchange of blood and embalming fluid is like a symphony to be orchestrated. The presentation of the deceased -- lying in a shining casket framed by flowers -- is an exquisitely composed tableau. And the burial itself is the magnificent climax to his craftsmanship. — Clive Barker also knows how to prepare a body for the grave.
He knows how to plunge his readers into unearthly depths, spiraling from dark horror to dizzying madness. He knows how to lower the body temperature to an icy chill -- and make the heart pound faster and faster.
Until it stops...
To a mortician, the preparation of a corpse is an art. The smooth, silent exchange of blood and embalming fluid is like a symphony to be orchestrated. The presentation of the deceased - lying in a shining casket framed by flowers - is an exquisitely composed tableau. And the burial itself is the magnificent climax to his craftsmanship.
Clive Barker also knows how to prepare a body for the grave.
He knows how to plunge his readers into the unearthly depths, spiraling from dark horror to dizzying madness. He knows how to lower the body temperature to an icy chill - and make the heart pound faster and faster.
This books includes the following stories:
(1) Son of Celluloid;
(2) Rawhead Rex;
(3) Confessions of a Pornographer's Shroud;
(4) Scape-Goats;
(5) Human Remains Views: 767
At a club in Missing Mile, N.C., the children of the night gather, dressed in black, looking for acceptance. Among them are Ghost, who sees what others do not. Ann, longing for love, and Jason, whose real name is Nothing, newly awakened to an ancient, deathless truth about his father, and himself.
Others are coming to Missing Mile tonight. Three beautiful, hip vagabonds - Molochai, Twig, and the seductive Zillah (whose eyes are as green as limes) are on their own lost journey; slaking their ancient thirst for blood, looking for supple young flesh.
They find it in Nothing and Ann, leading them on a mad, illicit road trip south to New Orleans. Over miles of dark highway, Ghost pursues, his powers guiding him on a journey to reach his destiny, to save Ann from her new companions, to save Nothing from himself... Views: 766
A haunting song. An enigmatic singer. A confrontation that could tear the fabric of reality apart.Pray the Dreamer does not wake ...A dark urban fantasy short story from Shane Jiraiya Cummings, Australia's master of the macabre.Three dinosaur stories with full colour illustrations. "Earthshaker" - a very large dinosaur comes to stay. "Elly and Aargh" - Elly the ankylosaur makes a fearsome friend! "KIng of the Killers" - can a T Rex outwit two huge and hungry dinosaurs?Combining humour and excitement, these three stories are perfect for reading aloud to younger children, or for more confident readers to enjoy on their own. Views: 766
Opaque Window is a book of poems touching on Politics, Greed, Hypocrisy, Parenting, Love, Hope, and maybe some Aliens.Opaque Window is a selection of poems that have crossed through the fabrics of my mind onto paper or pixilated lettering on a glowing monitor. Some of these works are old, some are new. I would like to believe my art is timeless, and that these poems will carry validity through the ages. This short anecdote of literary pleasure can be paired with a steaming cup of coffee, a crisp Chianti, or an entire bottle of rum. I know that they pair well, because as a writer, especially a poet. Drinking is in the craft. I hope that you enjoy reading these as much as I enjoyed writing them. Shoot me a review either negative or positive. This book is free, so what I ask is more vital and expensive- your precious time. Thank YouKurt T Thomson Views: 766
Halloween only comes around once a year, and the Justices do it right. They turn their house into a museum of torture, sectioning off each room with a velvet rope. The exhibits are so terrifying that the local amusement park asks them for their secret. It's quite simple, actually. And four lucky--or unlucky--fans get to find out what it is first hand."For so many years, passionate fans of The Count of Monte Cristo have suffered a loss upon finishing Alexandre Dumas' last words. It is a grieving of sorts that has long been unmitigable... until now. The mysterious Holy Ghost Writer has penned "The Sultan of Monte Cristo" as a direct continuance of the story readers have long struggled against leaving behind. The adventure-laden journeys of Edmond Dantes continues in (Dumas') newly-honed role as investigative reporter who publishes his (original) book as part of (this) story. New life is breathed into those characters we all knew and loved (or loved to hate) in the original Count of Monte Cristo tale (what can now, finally, be referred to as Book 1). Haydee, the infamous Villeforts, and even Countess G are lifted from the stalemate of our beloved story and given new life, and readers will also be introduced to a host of colorful new characters (like the memorable Raymee) whose lives, loves, and circumstance flow comprehensively and effortlessly through the entire narrative. Amazingly, the prose so closely matches the mood, tone, pacing, and richness of environment of Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo that this feels like the natural continuance of those lives. The sequel manages to introduce such a microscopic view into the full-flesh world our colorful characters engage in that readers can't help being sucked in. We cannot help but run breathlessly alongside them throughout the journey, to imagine the consequences between their words, to ponder on their insights and their woe-filled courses of action. We stand next to Mercedes as she lives and breathes; we get that rare glimpse into the future of the characters that Alexandre Dumas himself surely intended. Through well-defined and multilayered plotlines, the story's laser-point pacing, and rich character building, this work lends the quagmire of adventures, missteps, and danger-filled mysteries a guarantee of unforeseen, adventurous turns and cathartic "a-ha" insights. The Holy Ghost Writer seems a literary time-traveller: the swiftness with which he carries us straight into the 1800s is mind-boggling and a rare feat even in the best historical fiction writing. Excellent novel, and highly recommended!" Peanut's review. Views: 766
