short short story

Alternate Reality Viewing

by

The word of the day was: pareidolia

The garage was a mess of tools, metals, and things she couldn’t name. Sitting in the centre, soldering a tiny circuit board, was her best friend. “Jayne, what are you doing now?” She was sitting cross legged in front of what looked like a steampunk microwave the size of a small car.

“I figured it out last night. Just like Doc Brown, I was in the shower and boom I fell, and when I woke up I had it.” Jayne’s curly brown hair was all over the place and she had a large bruise on her temple.

“So instead of going to the hospital with a possible concussion, you built a time machine?” Miranda tried to sound scolding but it struck her both as typical and a little funny.

“Oh Picard,, no! I’d never even try. Time is too fragile and yuck.” She shook her head in disbelief. “I created a way to see into alternate realities.”

“Is this about Mal?” That was Jayne’s ex. They’d been together for four years, but after one too many nights tinkering in the garage, Mal left.

A horrified look crossed Jayne’s face and she replied, “Absolutely not. Obsessing over the path not taken would only lead to madness. I figured out a way to see the media from alternate realities.”

“Are you sure you’re not just staring into that thing and seeing what you want?”

Sighing loudly and dramatically, Jayne replied, “These are crisp, high definition, media from another reality, not some pareidolia.” Standing up and brushing off her dirt covered jeans, she took a USB drive from the machine and gestured to her friend to follow her.

They sat down on the couch in the living room and Jayne put the USB into the TV. She navigated to a file called, “1.06-Dead-Or-Alive.mkv” and pressed play.

That’s when Miranda cued in to what was happening. “You said media from another reality? You broke the laws of physics so we could watch—”

She was cut off by the intro music, “Take my love, take my land…”

Enjoy more Word of the Day stories on the stories page.

Wishes and Gumballs

by

This story was written for a writing competition. Write a short story, of 750 words or fewer, based on this prompt: A girl puts a quarter in a gumball machine and a human tooth comes out. http://www.writersdigest.com/your-story-competition/your-story-53

“It’s a sunny day out there, not a cloud in the sky. If you’re stuck indoors like us this one’s for you…” The radio DJs voice faded into “Working Man” by Rush. Sandra certainly understood the feeling. Having to get up at four in the morning and take three busses to get to work was horrible. Is this why she had mounds of student debt and a useless degree? To be a barista?

“Did he just say sunny?” she asked aloud. It wasn’t supposed to be sunny at four in the morning. “Shitshitshitshitshit!” She yelled as she jumped out of bed. It was certainly sunny outside and the clock read six fifteen. She was over an hour late and still had an hour’s bus ride ahead of her.

“Screw it I’m calling a taxi.” She picked up her cellphone. It was dead and she didn’t have a home line.

Grabbing a uniform from the top of her laundry pile, this was her eighth day in a row. She put the uniform on quickly and ran out the door. She closed the door still holding her cell and dropped it. When she picked it up it had a large crack. She had just bought it a month ago.

The elevator must have been broken again. She waited ten minutes and gave up, running down the eighteen stories to the ground floor. The outside smelt of mold and melting snow. She saw a taxi and tried to flag it down. It came closer to her and then sped up, creating a five foot high wave of slush as it passed by. She managed to avoid most of the ice but was drenched from head to toe.

When she finally flagged down a taxi she thought her luck was changing. The ride to work was unremarkable but that didn’t stop the driver from remarking. On everything he saw and thought. At one point she considered jumping out on the freeway.

Scrambling to get money out of her wallet she didn’t see someone open the door. She turned to leave and was struck in the face by a hard shelled briefcase.

“What are you doing in there?” asked the three piece suit attached to the briefcase.

“Getting out of a taxi…” she wanted to add some insulting names at the end but the taste of blood in her mouth surprised her into silence. He helped her out of the taxi and jumped in closing the door. Chivalry was dead, she thought, spitting out blood into a puddle. She passed her tongue over her teeth and found one missing.

The tooth was in the puddle that quickly drained into the sewers. She didn’t dare open her mouth to swear until she had something to stem the blood from her lost tooth.

Walking into her work she saw there was a long line of customers and only her boss to serve them. She hurried to the napkin stand and wadded one up into her tooth gap. She then hurried to help.

Turning away from a customer babbling about something, he looked at her and said, “I’m not sure what you think you’re doing but get the hell out of my store. You’re fired. This is the fourth time this week you’re late. Get out.”

Leaving, but not feeling like going back home, she walked around until the bleeding finally stopped. She’d have to go to the dentist but without healthcare or a job she’d never be able to afford it.

Outside a toy store in the posh shopping district she saw a gumball machine. She felt confident that a gumball was a bad idea considering her tooth, but really wanted the comfort of her childhood favourite candy.

“Are you planning on using that or just staring at it?” She was ready to attack the speaker but when she turned around she was amazed by how handsome he was and paused.

“Leave me alone, please. I’ve had a bad day.”

Seeing her face, which was bruising a beautiful black and purple colour, he winced and said, “As you wish.” He winked and walked away.

“What I wish was that I had my tooth back.” she replied  snarkily.

Putting her quarter into the machine, she turned the dial. What came out was not a gumball, but a tooth and it looked just like hers. She held it for a few seconds and then it jumped into her mouth, right back into place.

Wishes and Gumballs

by

This story was written for a writing competition. Write a short story, of 750 words or fewer, based on this prompt: A girl puts a quarter in a gumball machine and a human tooth comes out. http://www.writersdigest.com/your-story-competition/your-story-53

“It’s a sunny day out there, not a cloud in the sky. If you’re stuck indoors like us this one’s for you…” The radio DJs voice faded into “Working Man” by Rush. Sandra certainly understood the feeling. Having to get up at four in the morning and take three busses to get to work was horrible. Is this why she had mounds of student debt and a useless degree? To be a barista?

“Did he just say sunny?” she asked aloud. It wasn’t supposed to be sunny at four in the morning. “Shitshitshitshitshit!” She yelled as she jumped out of bed. It was certainly sunny outside and the clock read six fifteen. She was over an hour late and still had an hour’s bus ride ahead of her.

“Screw it I’m calling a taxi.” She picked up her cellphone. It was dead and she didn’t have a home line.

Grabbing a uniform from the top of her laundry pile, this was her eighth day in a row. She put the uniform on quickly and ran out the door. She closed the door still holding her cell and dropped it. When she picked it up it had a large crack. She had just bought it a month ago.

The elevator must have been broken again. She waited ten minutes and gave up, running down the eighteen stories to the ground floor. The outside smelt of mold and melting snow. She saw a taxi and tried to flag it down. It came closer to her and then sped up, creating a five foot high wave of slush as it passed by. She managed to avoid most of the ice but was drenched from head to toe.

When she finally flagged down a taxi she thought her luck was changing. The ride to work was unremarkable but that didn’t stop the driver from remarking. On everything he saw and thought. At one point she considered jumping out on the freeway.

Scrambling to get money out of her wallet she didn’t see someone open the door. She turned to leave and was struck in the face by a hard shelled briefcase.

“What are you doing in there?” asked the three piece suit attached to the briefcase.

“Getting out of a taxi…” she wanted to add some insulting names at the end but the taste of blood in her mouth surprised her into silence. He helped her out of the taxi and jumped in closing the door. Chivalry was dead, she thought, spitting out blood into a puddle. She passed her tongue over her teeth and found one missing.

The tooth was in the puddle that quickly drained into the sewers. She didn’t dare open her mouth to swear until she had something to stem the blood from her lost tooth.

Walking into her work she saw there was a long line of customers and only her boss to serve them. She hurried to the napkin stand and wadded one up into her tooth gap. She then hurried to help.

Turning away from a customer babbling about something, he looked at her and said, “I’m not sure what you think you’re doing but get the hell out of my store. You’re fired. This is the fourth time this week you’re late. Get out.”

Leaving, but not feeling like going back home, she walked around until the bleeding finally stopped. She’d have to go to the dentist but without healthcare or a job she’d never be able to afford it.

Outside a toy store in the posh shopping district she saw a gumball machine. She felt confident that a gumball was a bad idea considering her tooth, but really wanted the comfort of her childhood favourite candy.

“Are you planning on using that or just staring at it?” She was ready to attack the speaker but when she turned around she was amazed by how handsome he was and paused.

“Leave me alone, please. I’ve had a bad day.”

Seeing her face, which was bruising a beautiful black and purple colour, he winced and said, “As you wish.” He winked and walked away.

“What I wish was that I had my tooth back.” she replied  snarkily.

Putting her quarter into the machine, she turned the dial. What came out was not a gumball, but a tooth and it looked just like hers. She held it for a few seconds and then it jumped into her mouth, right back into place.

The Shepherds of Time

by

“We are the shepherds of time,” she yelled to a crowd of adoring fans. “We shape the world into its truest form.” She paused, a smug look on her flawless face.

Lifting her perfectly manicured hand for silence she continued, “Each of you came here tonight for a different reason. Some because it’s the cool thing to do, some in hopes of sleeping with one of the band,” the crowd roared, “some were dragged here by others, and maybe one or two of you actually like our crap music.” The crowd quieted with awkward laughter.

No one was quite certain what was going on and they seemed uncomfortable. The band however looked just as good as they always did. So beautiful they were surreal and disturbing. It was part of their allure.

“Among the twenty thousand people her tonight there are…” Alice-Eve pulled out her smartphone. Out from where no one would be able to tell. Her outfit couldn’t possibly hide any pockets. “Ah yes, five thousand rapists, three hundred future murderers, four serial killers, two war criminals, and one world dictator.”

The crowd seemed to have decided this was some sort of stunt and some cheered while others waited for the music.

“Tonight we will cull the herd and clean the world.” As she picked up her guitar the still clueless crowd yelled and screamed in anticipation.

In an over exaggerated movement she strummed an F sharp cord and the stadium exploded. Not with the crowds’ enthusiasm but the half dozen explosives hidden in the support beams.