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Roland’s Diner was the lowest-rated restaurant in town. Roland himself passed almost twenty years ago- or as the patrons would say, “Ole Role hisself died about two decades ago.” His son, Benny took over the duties of running the cheap eatery and had only managed to turn out a place where the food was gristly, the tables sticky, the chair pads ripped, and the coffee bland but hot. The Diner barely pulled a profit anymore as most people avoided this place like they’d contract cancer from just smelling the place, but a select few old-timers st...
Weekly Contest #105
On a late summer night, When stars give no light, Out from the grove, To take a new member, In the full moon of September, You’ll never come back, Once in their cursed pact. That was the saying that every member of Grovetown knew. The tiny town surrounded by farmers’ groves looked upon this time of the year with horrified dread. Shutters were tightly closed as fearful looks were given along with the whispered gossip of who would be taken this year. The Grovemen. That’s what they were called by anyone who knew. Rumor had it that they ...
Weekly Contest #100
Pal’s Diner on East St. I figured I had gotten the right place since it was the only business with its lights still on at 7:15 in the evening in this small town. A tiny bell rang above me as I opened the door to be told to take a seat anywhere in the red and white-clad establishment. The only two people visible in the entire place were the old, worn-down waitress behind the counter brewing a pot of coffee while puffing a menthol and Jimmy. Jimmy was sitting on the frayed couch of a booth in the far left corner over a pot of coffee looking di...
Weekly Contest #94
Everyone looked around smirking and ooh-ing to each other. Stephen Baxter had just landed a terrific insult about Parker King in front of the group of pre-pubescent boys crowding the spectacle. Stephen flexed his shoulders, anticipating Parker’s retaliation. Parker cracked his neck, drew in a breath, and smiled a predatory grin at his adversary, “I dare you to spend the night at the Demon House.” Silence fell among the group in a short gasp as eyes turned from the two bickering children to the decaying manor standing atop the hill. The hou...
Weekly Contest #92
The car dropped me off at the gate to the house. It opened right as I approached the iron bars that ended in spikes with a soft creaaaaak. It was hot outside, the humidity hung around the air in a tangible manner that made one feel like walking through a cloud, the swampy ground along each side of the walkway didn’t help even as the tree cover made me feel like walking into nighttime rather than my watch indicating that it was only noon. I looked down at the invitation one final time. Come to Le Maison Nocturne. It advertised in long, purple...
Weekly Contest #91
“Hey,” my girlfriend, Lynne, says to me. “This looks like a pretty good one.” She hands me a beaten copy of a horror paperback. It’s titled Summer of Sadness and the back tells that the novel is about of group of preteen boys discovering and battling a monster in their small hometown in 1963. It’s an adult book despite the characters. Summer of Sadness falls from my hand- now shaking- as the volume hits the ground with a dull flop. My legs all of the sudden feel limp, they are quaking slightly also as bile churns in my stomach, looking to e...
Weekly Contest #90
The old oak tree was an unspoken (and often unthought-of) staple that made the view of the hill above the small town. It was unknown when it had sprouted, everyone just could tell it was old because of how massive it was. In actuality, the great oak had been planted in the autumn of 1848 buy a small blue jay when a seed had dropped off of a twig it was carrying to build a nest. From then on, the small seed took in nutrients and sprouted in early spring, and continued to grow. As a budding, just coming out of the ground, the tree was the only...
Weekly Contest #89
That month forty years ago was the worst period I had ever had to live through. Once the Roman Empire, crumbling from greed and overexpansion. Death or prison. Those were the only two routes out of the life for a guy like me. It was how Our Thing worked. It was never really thought, however, until the worst winter of my life. Jimmy Santi was just a kid. The boss's son took over at way too young an age when his old man died of a heart attack. No one believed that this twenty-seven-year-old had what it took to lead this little famiglia through...
Weekly Contest #88
The man held out the contract with an elaborate black fountain pen for me to sign on the line. His innocent, charming features had distorted to look devilish and menacing. I did not trust him as I did only moments ago. “You asked for this,” he said in a sly voice. It sounded like nails on a chalkboard, “I am here to make your dream come true, all I want is my payment. The information is all here on my contract.” He was right, though Rumpelstiltskin did have a bad reputation for being a swindler, he wasn’t as bad as it was made out to be, a...
Weekly Contest #87
Everything was set. Holograms ready to blaze lasers when triggered, actors place strategically in the crowd to aid in the terror, charges were set to create little explosions, and remote-controlled discs that looked like flying saucers. The Wheezing and Winks Novelties company always had a marvelous April Fools Day extravaganza. Always to promote a new product. This year would top every prior event. War of the Worlds- inspired events. Except, instead of a radio broadcast, the invasion was coming to the tiny town that The Wheezing Winks Novel...
Weekly Contest #85
That’s the thing about this city, it just isn’t the same since you’ve left. I came back after an extended time, the longing to return growing inside me as a monster locked in a cage. However, when I came back, it wasn’t home anymore. I remember that last night. The one you left. “I know it’s sudden notice,” you told me, looking at your shoes rather than my eyes, “I’m sorry to be leaving so soon after you arrived, but I can’t do it anymore.” There was nothing I could say or do to make you stay, it was set in your mind. I don’t blame you or...
October 4, 2019 Daniel Alderman walked into his bedroom after a short walk from school on a cool Friday afternoon. The leaves- changing color from deep green to a soft orange- scratched against the window softly in the breeze under a grey sky. The floorboard in the exact middle of the room creaks as he steps on it, he usually avoids that floorboard because of the horrible noise that gives him goosebumps, but he had been too lost in thought to remember it. “Uck,” he groans and rubs his arms until the tiny bumps subside, “I hate this house.” D...
Weekly Contest #84
The extra room was really unnecessary when Darren accepted the lease. He lived alone and far enough away that no one from back home would come to visit often- if at all. Still, though, he liked the idea of a two-bedroom place. Maybe he could turn the spare space into a writing office and art studio. Maybe it would be empty for a year. Darren decided to bring a small desk with a humble chair into the room by the window that overlooked the small lake backdropped by the tiny square of woods that people enjoyed to pretend were enough nature des...
Weekly Contest #83
I saw her- well, I think I did when I was twelve years old. Anything could have explained it, though, right? I mean, who can actually believe their mind at only twelve years of age? I was just starting puberty, small sprouts of hairs poking through the skin of my leg. High school was becoming a growing reality in my future. My friends were all starting to neglect pickup baseball games and late-night creature features for sitting around at Baby Bo’s Burgers and Soda to act like the older kids. I was in love with Cindy McArthur. In fact, that’...
My head breaks through the surface in a terrific splash, sending droplets of water harmlessly to the waves never to been seen again. I take a deep, thankful inhalation of breath, feeling my chest expand despite the pressure of the water around me pushing back. The air is salty and the sun is bright, but I don’t notice at first. I am just happy to be alive. I trudge my way back to land after what feels like hours. The wet sand feels more like an expensive mattress in a darkened bedroom rather than a beach under a relentless sun. I fall aslee...
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