Stories tagged “fear”
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Homecoming
The blows were fast and furious now. Instinctively she cupped her arms over her head, folding herself as small as possible. She caught herself mewling and bit hard on her lip to stop. Find the light, she told herself, and dragged herself away from the ...
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Sanguine Tune
Garret slumped forward. The pain at the base of his skull tore through his head like a wildfire. Attempting to fight through the overwhelming agony, he shifted around to see who had struck him. It was much too dark, he worried. What had happened to the...
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A Scream in the Dark
The sounds of my own terror filled screams tore me from the grips of the dream. My heart pounding. My breath coming in loud gasping pulls. My skin and sheets soaked with sweat. I lay in the dark relearning how to breathe. The realization that I’m...
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Triskadekaphobia
It was everywhere. This was the last straw. No more would this idiotic figure be present in the human race! No more! I would obliterate it! It would no longer haunt me on every single street! It would no longer be a presence in my life, or anyone’...
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The Box
Suddenly, I notice that there’s music playing. My hands are trembling as I hold my bag; my nails digging deep into the strap and leaving marks there. I am standing in an upright coffin, hanging freely a mile in the air. The box lurches and swings a l...
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Illumination
Her hands shook, as she spooned grounds into the filter. Finally, she hardly noticed. Sleep came when you were truly exhausted, but you had to stay alert in between, somehow. She heard some people had to turned to things other than caffeine, things tha...
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Fear
I stood there and watched, marveling at my friend. Where I was calm and cool, he was viscous and vivacious. I would watch and follow as he wandered through the battlefield running and screaming. He was drawn to them, to the helpless. A man was pinned d...
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Fear, Death and Envy
“It just rolled out! I can’t find it.” We were in the kitchen of our two-bedroom flat and Fear was holding one skeleton hand over her empty eye socket. Spiders crawled out of her sleeve and across her knuckles. “I kept popping i...
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Basements
I hate basements. No, I freaking despise them. They terrify me. Ever since I was a kid, going into the basement causes my heart to race, my mouth to dry out, and my palms to sweat. You want a milkshake? Hand me ice cream and milk in a cup, and send me ...
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An Animal's Fear
You say you’re not scared, but the very fact that you exist contradicts that. You’re so scared that you’re afraid that even admitting that will somehow endanger you. So scared that you lock up those who are not. Afraid you might not b...
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A Reluctance To Die
The Italian food put me in a good mood, so I flag down a cab. Luckily the driver is focused on the road more than his customer. When the taxi stops, I fork out some change and hop out, dusting the crumbs off my cloak, brandishing my scythe. The house i...
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The First Horseman
“Buddy?” a stout fellow at the sink next to me said, “ya gonna wash your other hand, too? – it’s not lookin’ so good.” He glanced over the rest of me – my clothes were immaculate – not a touch of lint, nor dust. My face and right hand...
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A Living Death
Huddled in perpetual fetal position, she gazed listlessly out at her pitch-black surroundings. Somewhere deep within the lonely recesses of her tired mind, a memory stirred, reminding her of who, where, why she was. Blind and deaf, she could only feel....
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You're Not Welcome Here
Three quick, authoritative knocks follow the intimidating sounds of footsteps reaching the door. As my mind quickly winds into a frenzy, I stomp twice on the wooden floor beneath us, signaling to the Greenbaums that someone has arrived. Within seconds ...
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to hell with saying goodbye
The moon had cast a long eerie white light that snuck past the drifting curtains and landed gently on my face. I glanced around the room, staring at my suitcase tucked neatly into the corner, reminding me that tomorrow I would no longer sleep in this h...
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Quarantine
It’s 2050. They said the hole would’ve been fixed by now, but they were wrong. Oh, God, those scientists and politicians and environmentalists were so wrong. The hole didn’t close, it got bigger, and it let in the disease. The disease...
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The Writing on the Walls
Despite the writing on the walls, my future seemed rather large. There were no more wise words of encouragement or enthusiasm for work that was not yours. There were no more words of inqurement. The best thing that had ever happened to us was ending in...
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It's Back
“…I’m a tiger when I want love. I’m a snake when we disagree…” Why can I never get that song out of my head? It ain’t exactly the best thing to be thinking about on the way home. Again, I have to stay late. Why...
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A Fear's Effect
Standing by the wall As the music starts to pound Everybody dancing, moving with the sound Awkwardness, uncertainty A fear that grips my heart It makes my limbs go still In this dance, I don’t take part Climbing up the element Finally reach the t...
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Running Away...
I’m running, I’m crying, I’m breathing, I’m dying. I’m shouting, I’m screaming, I’m stumbling, I’m reeling. I’m regretting, I’m stunning, I’m pushing, I’m shunning. I hurt...
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Falling
Having placed the tiny strip of paper on his tongue he flops back and smiles. Far off in the distance he can hear the music playing. Far off in the distance he can smell the flowers growing. Far off in the distance he can hear her speak. “Awake.&...
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From Yesterday
I am sitting in my special place. I’m sitting on a large, mossy rock in the middle of a clearing in the woods. There is a small stream rushing peacefully below me. The trickle of water calms my torrent of thoughts. I take a deep breath which pai...
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listen...to the violent silence
She was watching him, waiting “You don’t know,” he started, “the silence, its killing me inside. I’m dying. The silence, isn’t it affecting you? Or am I the only one going insane?” The coffee was now resolved to a ring at the bottom of hi...
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I Am Fear
I know you can’t see me, but I relish in the taste of your fear from here. My voice approaches from the left, so you dart right… Only to hear it approach from before you. It may not be pleasant to hear, but well… I’m not a pleas...
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Everything in the Right Place
Lydia walked up the stairs wearily, a sheaf of dark hair covering her face like a raven’s wing. “Brian?” she called out as she reached the second landing. Her voice echoed back, the sound of it mocking to her ears. She shrugged out of...