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The Shorts

In this room, you'll find short stories, essays, and ponderings. Hey, it's free fiction (and possibly some non-fiction), and who doesn't like free fiction? So get to reading, y'all!

The Lost Witch - A Christmas Ghost

December 22, 2017

This is the second story in the Lost Witch series. You should start with The Lost Witch - Halloween Treats (below).

 

Riley told Liz goodnight and shuffled down the hall to her bedroom humming A Christmas Carol. Luna, the oldest of their two cats, slinked along in front of her. Riley opened her bedroom door and hesitated before entering; she scanned the room, for what she wasn’t exactly sure. As usual, the laundry she left on the bed earlier had been folded and placed neatly on the bench by the window. She put on her pajamas—yoga pants and a faded AC/DC t-shirt—and scrambled into bed.

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With Luna snuggled on the pillow next to her, Riley pulled the quilts tight around her neck and tucked them under her body, creating a safe cocoon. She reasoned that if her extremities weren’t hanging out, nothing could grab her. Having a portal to the spirit world under her bed had been frightening at first. Kinda cool, but scary. Just to be safe, Riley thought it best to not to have her hands and feet dangling over the edge of the mattress.

The Lost Witch - Halloween Treats

October 29, 2017

Riley leaned her head against the car door. The glass was cold on her forehead. Her eyes followed a raindrop as it hit the window and shimmied down the glass, joining up with other raindrops to create a small river dancing across the backseat window. The houses passed by in a rain-soaked blur, one-by-one. Her Aunt Mildred had not shut up since they got in the car. Mostly, she was speaking to her daughter Alison, who was riding shotgun in the front seat. Riley did her best to block out their voices, their thoughts, their hate. It had become increasingly difficult the past few weeks, but now she didn’t need to worry about them anymore. She was going to stay with her cousin Liz, who was the closest relative she had. Their mothers had married brothers, which made Riley and Liz double-first cousins. They had always been close, even though they were separated by eleven years.

The Curse

September 11, 2017

Alexis dared not tell her mother or grandmother she would be traveling to Sweetwater to photograph the solar eclipse on Monday. A superstition about eclipses—solar and lunar—had migrated down through four generations of her family. From a young age, her great-grandmother, her grandmother, her mother, and all her aunts had terrified her with warnings about the curse of the eclipse. Of course all of these warnings only served to make her more interested in all things lunar. She never felt more alive than during a full moon, and new moons always held some special insight.

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As a photographer, Alexis couldn’t pass up the opportunity to photograph the great American eclipse—and it was right in her back yard. She had convinced her cousins, Morgan and Kayla, to join her at the family farm in Sweetwater to view the event. The farm consisted of a three-room log cabin and fifty acres that had been in the family for years. There was a waterfall, a creek, a few cows, and a spectacular view of the mountains. And come Monday afternoon, a total solar eclipse. (Read more by clicking the button below.)

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