Stories

What would you do if a demon appears out of nowhere, in all its naked rawness, willing to grant you a wish that someone else would die for?

The Sessions is a collection of transcripts containing the conversations and subsequent appointment notes between a Consulting psychiatrist and her new patient. As a transcript, the story is told entirely in dialogue and is set in a small, plainly decorated room. A teak coffee table separates Patient and Doctor. Although not seen, the Doctor will be taking notes throughout, and these can be read at the end of each visit.
While some of the details within the transcripts may not be entirely medically accurate, I have drawn on my extensive experience of being the “patient” in therapy.

One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl and four for a boy.

Five for silver, six for gold, seven for a secret never to be told.

I am sure many of you, like me, learned this children's nursery rhyme about magpies. According to an old superstition, the number of magpies seen predicts whether you will have good or bad luck. Something I came across subsequently, was the existence of many variations on this rhyme, some more sinister than the children’s version.

One of those is incorporated into this short story about boyhood abuse.

This is a fan-fiction based on Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series. This is kind of an Alternate Universe, because this takes place shortly before the 4th Pass and there is no canon to base this on -- which is precisely why I chose it!

There’s a killer on the loose, and everyone in your community is scared. This is startling to you because you sense that the serial murderer is targeting a select class of citizen. Who is he/she and why are they targeting them?

A short story based at a dog show about two young men who fall in love.

For a man who grew up where family and community meant everything no punishment could compare to the Shunning

A man contemplates the journey his life has taken, and the way the music of love has overcome the profound silence he has felt for so long.

A rather dark tale, at least in the first part.

Written using Prompt 532

A religious community gathers for a cleansing ritual. They burn lists of their wrongdoings in a large clay pot. When it is their turn to burn their sins one couple realizes that they are not welcome.