Fiction
Enjoy this collection of Short Stories by Rashmi P. Menon and CW’s Guest Authors for FREE!
Unbound – Reader’s Choice Award Winner - My short story Unbound won the Reader's Choice Award at the Fall Short Story Writing Contest. It is the story of a young immigrant girl named Laila and one life-altering decision she had to make. Continue Reading
Mine – Part III - Mine – A Lucien Hawke Story – is a 3-part short story that is being published as a part of the Guest Blogging for Confessions of a Writeaholic. Read Part I and Part II if you haven't already. Blackrose gasped. She covered her mouth. Kai showed no sign of acknowledging the noise. “I have the power to enter your dreams, your heart, and your mind. I hunger for love, Mike. I thrive on it.” “Freak.” Kai's smile faded. He stared into Mike's eyes. Kai pounced on Mike and bit into his neck. He ripped the flesh clean off the bone and swallowed. Mike fell to the floor, dead. The poor lad didn't even have time to scream. The other three boys, however, did. “But I can live off human flesh too.” The incubus's eyes fell on the panicking children. The boys screamed and cried, but their bodies didn't move. Kai released an otherworldly roar. It sounded much like a lion's roar melded with a crow's cry. The incubus tackled the boys and tore their hearts out to feast. Splatter blood consumed the room and a red pool gathered at the monster's feet. Walter's gag reflex kicked in. He dry heaved… Continue Reading Mine – Part II - Kai smiled. “Proof that our bond is real.” He ran his hand over Gabe's. His touch was gentle. It was welcoming. “I know your loneliness. I know your wish for connection. Your wish for acceptance. Your entire being screams it. I have felt this cry. I know you wish for a friend who understands.” A few passing students caught the tender moment and burst into laughter. Gabe jerked his hand away. “But it's not you.” Gabe froze. He glanced down. “My hand...” “My gift to you.” Continue Reading Mine – Part I - An eerie quiet loomed within the school halls. It was an unusually windy night for the end of summer. Gabe tried rubbing the goosebumps off his arm. The empty school was unsettling. Broken lockers creaked with each swing. Wind whistled. Shadows danced. Gabe tried shaking off his nerves. “Why am I doing this?” Continue Reading
If I Were A Goddess - As I sit here typing this post, I can’t help but smile at everything that transpired the last month and all that I have accomplished. Yes, a sense of accomplishment is what I feel when I think about July. Despite, the fact that I may not have posted much on my blog, I am proud of the amount of writing I did. I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo and contributed a total of 51K words into my WIP. The debut novel that I am currently working on. 51 thousand words, y’all! I am excited about where my book is headed, it has changed drastically from what I had initially planned, but I am really enjoying writing it. I am also glad to finally be able to give my writing the time and effort it deserves. While that alone feels like a huge achievement, I have also started writing for a new series of short stories titled Hunt or Be Hunted. This is a writing project that I find very interesting. If you have been following my blog from the beginning may already know of my love for mythology, especially Greek Mythology. When I thought of which Goddess' story I wanted to… Continue Reading
The Light – A Short Story! - “Angela, come here. You have got to check this out,” Grace called out from the backyard of their home. Angela leaned over from her bedroom window and looked at her sister. “What is it?” She asked. “I am studying for my test!” “Oh, for Pete’s sake, can you stop studying for a second? You’re such a nerd!” Grace shouted back. Angela stared at her sister as though asking her to say something new that she did not already know. “Seriously, come here! You really want to see this!” Grace persisted. Grumbling at her sister for disturbing her, Angela made her way towards the backyard, which was covered by a fresh batch of leaves that had fallen the night before. Like a whispering audience, the leaves rustled under her feet as though warning her of the impending peril. The strong cold breeze pierced into her skin. Angela pulled her jacket closer together and zipped it up. What was her sister doing out in this weather? What was so interesting that she forced her to come out? “What is it?” Angela asked. “Check this out!” Grace said excitedly. Angela looked in the direction Grace was pointing. She could not believe her eyes.… Continue Reading
One Summer Day – The Finale! - Dave noticed the baby clinging to his mother, he wanted to see if the baby recognized his voice. “Come here, buddy!” Dave’s voice made the baby bury his face into his mother’s chest and cling onto her tighter than ever. Anna carrying Josh in the baby carrier sling kept a protective arm around him sending a clear message to Dave who understood the message well enough. He noticed the alteration in her demeanor and wondered what could have caused the change, his presence no longer seemed to intimidate her. She showed a strength that he was yet to see emulate from her in all these years that he had known her. Jim stood there watching the family drama unfold for a while, but was now starting to get impatient. “Man, I really need to get going! You do your stuff, but if you gave me the cash like we discussed, I could get going, you know!” Jim tried his luck. Anna noticed the way Dave’s jaws tightened, she knew what that meant. His eyes flashed heat waves at an unsuspecting Jim. “You will not move a step from here until I say we are done; do you hear me?” Dave… Continue Reading
A Spark For Life! - [This story is the 9th and second to last part of the One Summer Day Series. Click HERE to find the Parts 1 – 8 of this tale or HERE to read a brief of the story so far]. Anna heard Jim calling out to her from outside the door. It was time to go, time to meet Dave – again! For some reason she felt calm, she did not panic or worry about Dave’s reaction. All she cared about at the moment was the life of her little boy, to see if there was a way to save Josh if only she could reason with Jim so that she could leave Josh with her parents! “Come on now, pick up the kid and come out!” Jim barked at her from the door. She glared at him before picking up her little boy, his baby bag and walked towards the door. Jim returned her stare and wondered why she had that look in her eyes. Her eyes rendered icy daggers instead of the fear that had normally occupied them. He would've speculated on the possibilities that caused the change if he had more time, however, at the moment he had a lot… Continue Reading
Buried Deceptions – A Synopsis of WIP - Ever since I participated in NaNoWriMo, I have been talking about my first novel that is in the works. Although, I did say I have been working on the novel, I never really gave any details as to what my novel is all about. There are a couple of reasons for that; I had initially planned to work up ‘One summer Day’ into a novel and thought that the story of Anna and Dave could be my very first novel. But halfway through the series, I came up with a very different but interesting plot for a suspense thriller that had the potential of becoming a full-fledged novel. I started working on writing this new plot sometime in January, then gave up for a couple of months (March -April) then picked up writing it again in May. I have finished writing the first draft and am working on the second draft now, the book blurb and synopsis of the novel. I will take a few more months before I have it worthy of being published, but I am taking it slow due to time constraints. Having said that, I thought it would be a good time to provide a short… Continue Reading
See You Soon! - “Why are you doing this, Jim?” Anna asked. “You know nothing more than what Dave told you, please, just give me a chance to explain,” she pleaded with him. “I don’t need to know anything, Anna. Dave is my buddy and I am sure he has a very good reason for whatever he is doing!” Jim retorted. “Ninnie…. what… what’s going on? Why is Dave after you?” Liz asked “Shut up! And hand me all your cell phones” Jim barked at them. He collected 3 cell phones and pocketed them. “OK, how many rooms in this house? Hmm let’s see,” he said as he let his eyes wander around the house. “Come on, now! Move it!” he pointed the gun at them and ordered them to walk. John put one of his arms around Liz and the other around Anna and coerced them to listen to Jim and move. “He has a gun, Ninnie…we don’t want to provoke him into using it, just listen to him for now, we can figure something out,” he whispered into Anna's ears as they started to move. Jim pushed them into the powder room that was situated by the hall and locked the door from outside. Anna… Continue Reading
One summer Day – The Story So Far! - When I participated in the Writing 101 course last year, it pushed me out of my comfort zone, and I found myself writing posts that I normally would not have thought about. One of the prompts from the course asked us to write a post based on what transpires in a character’s life in a single day. This novelette started as a result of that post! For that prompt, I decided to write about Anna Brown and the day she tried to escape from Dubai from her life with Dave Williams. When I wrote that post I had no intentions of making it into a series or a novelette. However, after reading the post many of my readers wanted to know more about what happened to Anna, what made her want to escape and if she made it back home alright. That discussion sparked an interest in me to continue telling her story through a series. And I started to tell her story part by part. But, somewhere along the way, I got too busy with my other projects and Anna’s story took a backseat on my list of priorities! Today, after a gap of almost 3 months, I looked at… Continue Reading
An Intergalactic Journey - Hundreds of drones zoomed ahead into the empty field buzzing loudly like bees swarming over a honeycomb. Dr. Verna watched from the window of the mother ship as the drones spread about the surface collecting data. Just as she was getting ready to leave to the data informatics center, she heard a beep on her machine to indicate an incoming message; she clicked to accept the call and in a split second a three dimensional hologram image of her daughter flickered to life. “Hi Mom, What’s Earth?” her daughter asked “What? Where did you hear that?” “At the Science Fair, I heard some of the older kids talking about something called Earth. What is it?” “Riley, have I not told you not to listen in on other people’s conversation?” “I’m sorry, mom!” Dr. Verna looked at the virtual image of her daughter and wished she could reach out and touch her. “Well, Earth was the name of an astronomical planet that was known to harbor life billions of years ago. It was inhibited by a variety of species, a majority of them called Humans. The planet is no longer active.” “What happened?” “That is a long story for another day,… Continue Reading
The Silencer! - Rochelle Wisoff-Fields is here with yet another Friday Fictioneer flash fiction challenge. The photo prompt this week is courtesy of Roger Bultot. The Silencer He looked out into the dull grey sky at the flock of pigeons roosting atop the power lines. Their constant prattling was annoying him. Picking up his rifle, he took aim and squeezed the trigger. Smeared in blood, the bird dropped onto the pavement flapping its wings uncontrollably writhing in pain before it stiffened. The other birds flapped away in a frenzy at the blasting sound. Bobby smirked at the sight of the dead bird. He had silenced it, just like he had silenced his wife. He turned and walked into their bedroom to admire her rigid body yet again. [Word Count: 100] Want to give it a try, click on the InLinkz tab below to add your story link. Continue Reading
A Meeting With My Ex - Finally, the day I’ve been dreading was here and there was nothing I could have done to halt the dawn ebbing its gradual way into daylight. Was I really dreading this day or looking forward to it? I am not sure. Everything feels hazy since the day I agreed to meet him, my ex, for a cup of coffee. “Just to talk and catch up! Only if you are free and fine with it,” he had said when I received an unexpected call from him. I was still trying to convince myself that I had agreed to this meeting, as my car rolled into the parking lot around the corner of the café. After killing the engine I did not make any efforts to get out of the car. I scanned the surrounding for his familiar face, perhaps for the hundredth time before I decided to step out of the car. I collected my purse from the dash and made my way into the café before I could change my mind. Walking into the café I find myself a cozy spot by the window. I sit there looking out into the bright blue sky that was slowly giving way to… Continue Reading
One Shot At Happiness! - [This story is the 7th part of the One Summer Day Novelette. Click HERE to find the Parts 1 – 6 of this tale]. For the first time in years, Anna slept the night like a baby. She was finally starting to believe that there was a way out, that there was a possibility for a happy future, for her and for Josh. She woke up with a smile, the prospect of being back home with her parents made her happy. Yet there was a nagging sensation at the back of her mind. However, she was unable to put a finger to it. She knew that she couldn’t stay with her parents, sooner or later she would have to come up with a plan. She can’t always be on the run, at some point Dave would catch up. By then, it is imperative that she get to a more stable situation to be able to stand up to him. What would she say to her parents about her future plans? After all, it’s not just her, there was Josh too. That’s when it struck her, her parents have no idea about Josh. They do not know that they have a grandson.… Continue Reading
Going Home! - [This story is the 6th part of a continuing tale. Click HERE to find the Parts 1 – 5 of this tale]. The last 6 years were spent in a trance, she knew not how she managed to survive them. The only positive outcome to those years of her life was Josh. The thought of her past sent a shiver down her spine. The memories of the nightmare that was her life came flooding back to her mind, the fear of the unknown, the bondage, the immeasurable pain, the whips cutting into her skin. Stop, stop, just stop! Anna told herself. She could not even bear to think of those days. She wondered if she was finally free from the power of his authority over her mind, body and soul, her very existence. It is a miracle that she survived long enough to escape; now she was going to give it her all to fight for her freedom to fight for her life and Josh’s too! She owed it to herself and to her baby. “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. We will be shortly landing at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York City. Please fasten your… Continue Reading
Book Spine Poetry - Here's an idea, raid your bookshelves for interesting titles and create poetry using just the book titles. I have opted to use the titles of four books, one of which I am currently reading and the other three are in my reading list for this year! The Wings of Fire; The Infinite Sea; Inferno; A Perfect Match! Why don't you give it a go too! Ping-back to this post and use the tag #BookSpinePoetry to play. Continue Reading
The Way Forward - [This story is the 5th part of a continuing tale. Click HERE to find the Parts 1 - 4 of this tale]. Anna woke up with a jolt when she heard him crying. Realizing that she had fallen asleep, she quickly got up to check on Josh. He was awake, sitting up in the bassinet and crying, holding his arms out to her. Anna picked him up and sensed that Josh needed a change of diapers. She walked into the small airplane toilet to change him. It was not easy changing diapers in-flight in the crammed space. Returning to her seat, she got busy feeding Josh. Afterwards, she put him back in the bassinet and handed him his favorite police car to play with. A content Josh got busy playing with his little toy. Anna looked at her watch and let out a deep sigh, it had been over 8 hours since they were on board. She knew that in another 6 hours they would land in JFK. She pulled out her wallet from her handbag and looked into it, there was enough cash to last for a couple of months. She knew that she could not use her card, Dave would easily track her… Continue Reading
Rush Hour Traffic! - I looked at the time displayed on the bottom right corner of my laptop as I was furiously typing my response to the client’s queries. It took a while for the impact of the time I saw to register into my mind. The moment it did register though, I started to panic. It was past 5 pm. Half an hour late from the time I usually leave from work. Oh dear, I am really late. At this rate, I will never make it to the airport on time. I have at least an hour and a half drive to get to the airport, add the evening rush hour traffic on the Interstate, the drive is going to be anything but smooth. But there was no way I could leave without sending that email, the project deadline was fast approaching and I could not afford to mess with it. Finally, I hit the send button on the email and shut down my laptop almost immediately. I dumped the laptop and other necessities into my backpack, grabbed my keys and ran out of the office to the parking garage. The cold winds stalked me and tore right through my clothing making me… Continue Reading
I Will Not Let You Go! - [This story is the 4th part of a continuing tale. Click on the links to find the Part 1 titled One Summer Day , Part 2 titled That First Meeting and Part 3 titled Those Were the Days]. Anna looked at her cellphone and noticed the time, it blinked 5.15 p.m. Her thoughts went back to the home she had left behind. Dave would be home now! She wondered if he had realized she left. Of course, by now he would have figured it out, she had left the house in a mess with the everything carelessly thrown about. She had even left the safe deposit box open on the bed with all the money, jewelry and documents strewn over the bed! Anna felt a cold bead of sweat run down her body as she imagined Dave’s reaction to her absence! ************************************************************* As Dave parked the car into the garage, he noticed that Anna’s car was missing. It frustrated him when she was not at home when he returned from work! Why hasn’t she called me yet? My instructions were explicit; she was supposed to call me after the doc appointment! Dave thought as he stepped out of the car. He walked into the… Continue Reading
Against All Odds – A Story of Survival - Survival can easily be defined as existing or continuing to live against all odds. Against all odds – three simple words, don’t you think? One could argue that these are words that writers use to enhance dramatic effects of a scene they are unfolding; that in the real world survival against all odds is easier said than done. I am not sure if I did agree with that, because I feel that in a world such as the one we live in, facts are stranger than fiction. Those strange facts of life have been borrowed to build this piece of fiction. This is the story of Mary. *************** “Mom! Come here!” Mary called out with a voice bordering on panic. “What is it, Mary?” her mother asked. “It’s Woofer! He’s not moving!” She said sitting down to pat him on his back once again. By now tears flowed freely from her eyes. Her mother came to her side in a minute and checked on Woofer. “Oh, honey! Woofer is gone. I am so sorry baby!” her mother said. “You knew this was going to happen any day now, the Vet said so the last time he visited!” she added in… Continue Reading Those Were The Days! - [This story is the 3rd part of a continuing tale. You can find the Part 1 titled One Summer Day and Part 2 titled That First Meeting when you click on the links]. Anna and Dave passed each other on their morning runs almost every day after that first meeting. But neither stopped to talk, they just waved to each other and continued on their run. For some reason, Anna always felt disappointed that he did not stop to talk to her. After all, he had asked her when they could meet again. Did he not mean it when he asked if they would meet again? Maybe she was just assuming things. The way he waved at her and ran in the opposite direction, it felt as though, he didn’t seem to care for her presence. At least if he had brought Sally along, she could stop to pet the dog and make some conversation to Dave in the process. But he was running alone, without Sally, all these days. Oh well! Maybe I just assumed he was interested! Anna thought to herself. She resolved to take him off her mind. It didn’t do her any good to dwell on something that… Continue Reading
Finding True Love! - My hopes and dreams are hidden away In the deepest corners of my heart Thinking I will never need them any day But there still lingers a whisper in a small part To find true love in your heart! Offering with it a moment of sunshine Designed for one doused in rain Making it a feeling that’s divine With a dose of laughter instead of pain To find true love in your heart! With brooding wings and lonely for so long Yearning your emergence from this dream With me in your arms, to a wonderful song We shall dance into the night as a team Until we find true love in our hearts! That unconditional love that stays alive Forever in our hearts until the end of time Letting it flow we don’t have to strive When our eyes convey “You are but all mine!” ‘Coz we found true love in our hearts! This poem is written in response to The Prompt Stomp Week 11 Writing theme "What/Why I love..." I chose to do a love poem because this was brewing in my head for the past week and I had to get it out! I hope you enjoyed the poem!… Continue Reading
The Best Christmas Present! - I love participating in various challenges especially writing challenges with prompts. Author Dan Alatorre hosts this amazing Flash Fiction Challenge where he gives a scenario and a keyword (actually its not him, its the randomizer that picks the scene and the keyword for you from his list) and you can write anything within a 1000 words based on the scene, the keyword must become a part of your caption. The list this time were all based on Holiday Scenes. The random number I got was number 9 and keyword number 8. My scene: "A Christmas tree in a small apartment with one open present and no one around" and my keyword was "Present". If you are interested in participating, click on the link above to read the instructions and choose your scene and keyword. Here is the story I came up with. Hope you enjoy it! ********************************************************** The Best Christmas Present! “It’s a weekend… go back to sleep!” I told myself even though mind was hell bent on waking me up early on a Saturday morning. Well, as it turns out, my mind had no intentions of listening to me. So I woke up and dragged myself into the kitchen. I put… Continue Reading
Open The Door! - Stacy had to think quickly, she knew the boat was going to capsize. There was no way that this boat could wither a storm so strong. What was she thinking coming on this boat ride? And she was foolish enough to drag her daughter in too. The poor girl wanted to stay back at home. It was Stacy’s idea of taking a boat ride. But the weather seemed fine this morning, it was bright and sunny! The forecast said the skies would be clear for the rest of the day. There was not even a warning of a storm. How did the weather change so quickly? She thought nervously. Ahh…what was the point of thinking about it now! The boat was going to capsize and she had to do something! She quickly had Emma, her daughter, put on a life jacket as did she. The least they could do was have their life jackets on. She moved to the radio room to signal for help. Why wasn’t anyone responding? Stacy thought, her panic rising! Just as she was going to try again, Stacy heard Emma calling out to her. Stacy rushed to the deck and as she reached for her daughter a… Continue Reading