The Good Neighbor

He waves from across the street, leaving, working nights again. Smiling, I return his wave. She watches him from the doorway, my gaze goes unnoticed.

Twilight passes, darkness falls. Lights go out in their upstairs window.

Patience. Give it time.

Minutes passing like hours.

Thinking back. Their vacation had been great, thanks for feeding the cat. Glad the new key worked.

It still works.

I fixed that squeaking door and creaking stairway for you.

Standing watch beside her, so lovely sleeping. She deserves more attention.

Sure, I'll keep an eye on the place while you're on graveyard shift. My pleasure.

From Guest Contributor Mirshaan.

Mirshaan has a BFA in Education. He loves words.

Glanton's Visit

The Winchester Model ‘87 tore the first moon man in half at close quarters. The ancient shotgun had been a family heirloom and, legend had it, was successfully utilized in a bank robbery fifty some odd years ago down Tucson way. The relic still packed a powerful punch, as the bloody remains of the unwelcome visitor attested to.

Old man Glanton took another space critter down before what survived of their small party escaped in a silvery flying disc. Glanton spat tobacco into the dust and reckoned he’d better put on some fresh coffee before Bobby returned with the horses.

From Guest Contributor, Horrorshow

Home School

It was agreed I would be home schooled, with my Mother as the teacher.

I didn’t know what to make of it. I mean, it’s not like I’m a poor scholar or dumb. It’s just that regular school complained I am a disruptive influence with an attitude problem.

All the school administrators care about are their own rules.

At the end of day one, Dad walked through the door and asked how it had gone down.

“It would have gone a lot better if the teacher wasn't such a bitch,” was my candid reply.

That’s how I flunked home school.From Guest Contributor Barry O’Farrell

Barry is an actor living in Brisbane, Australia. The acting experience has inspired a latent desire to write. Barry is enjoying the challenge of writing in 100 words.

Rotten Teeth

Staring down at my bloody teeth, I vowed this would be the last I had this nightmare.

Dr. Lawson called them stress dreams and suggested I examine where my anxiety was coming from. Only I knew their true source. I wasn't going to share it with my therapist.

I tried washing my hands, but soap and water couldn't cure the corruption. My soul had turned, many years ago, and the only way to end its blight was to take my own life. Or to kill again.

Dr. Lawson was the next victim to pay the price for my own cowardice.

Happy Halloween

Cat And Mouse

"If I ever see you here again, I'll kill you."

So began their game of cat and mouse. Every night, Owen skirted past the Clover Patch, careful never to show his face where O'Riley might see him. O'Riley kept his shotgun under the bar, hoping for the day Owen crossed the bar's threshold.

Owen lamented he'd never again be able to sip of the island's best stout. It seemed especially unfair, with him being the bar's owner and its chief brewer, while O'Riley was just a bartender. Hiring a belligerent alcoholic to tend bar was in hindsight a poor decision.

Cable

I received a cancellation letter in the mail last week. My cable subscription had been halted. I found myself spending the entire afternoon staring at a black screen.

That evening, while out shopping, I discovered that all my credit cards had been stopped. I wasn't hungry anyway, but I was beginning to spot a disturbing trend.

One by one, every relevant account, identification, and social network deleted me from their databases. I was suddenly cast adrift, avatarless in a digital world.

It soon became clear that I had died. I didn't mind. What was the point of life without cable.

Unreasonable Fear Of…

Jumbo jets are supposed to be safer, the new Airbus A380 the safest.

An unusual, annoying sound distracts me from the terrific in-flight entertainment system.

What is that sound? Where the hell is it coming from?

Running water? Yes, it’s the sound of running water. No one seems alarmed…yet.

Now water is cascading from the ceiling of this A380.

Water begins to pool in the carpet. The water rises, continues to rise. Frighteningly, water now laps at my sneakers. I can feel my socks becoming damp.

Suddenly any fear of flying turns to fear of drowning…at 35,000 feet.

From Guest Contributor Barry O'Farrell

Barry is an actor living in Brisbane, Australia. The acting experience has inspired a latent desire to write. Barry is enjoying the challenge of writing in 100 words.

The Grimalkin

Finnegan wasn't the first to discover the cat. His dog was, as Finnegan was pulled forcefully to the brush where the grimalkin was huddled. Close to death it seemed.

His dog didn't know any better. If it hadn't been for the leash, Sam would have mangled the old cat. Dogs only understand their instinct.

Finnegan could see that this was no ordinary cat. This was one of the elders. There had been a time when his kind had ruled this land. That time was no more, however, and now they were mostly refugees.

Finnegan unclasped the leash and walked away.

Factory

The second time that John came out of prison, he decided that enough was enough. It took a while but John's parole officer found him a factory job at the docks hauling animal carcasses from trucks to meat lockers.

John worked fifty-hour weeks at the factory for twenty years before he died of the lung cancer that had gradually crept into his body. John's obese daughter was his lone blood relative at what could only be described as a modest funeral. She left tired yellow flowers on John's grave before going back to a factory job of her own.

From Guest Contributor, Horrorshow

Hyena

The boy, prescient and wise, child of a dove, knew this day was coming, when the neighborhood man would tear into his school and wave his weapon and laugh like a hyena and cut down everything that stood in his path. The man yearned to be young but lived encaged in the zoo of lost innocence, and given arms and a rare safari he had to take lives, lives that betrayed his by existing where he could no longer be. So the boy absented himself on the dreaded day, warned the principal, who wouldn't listen, watched the news, and cried.

From Guest Contributor, Curt Klinghoffer