Fifteen Minutes

After a lifetime of deception, a sense of purposelessness persisted. Trapped in darkness, Sarah faced tests, time lost all meaning, hunger gnawed, and survival was vital. Guilt spiraled into self-blame. A presence loomed, with fear gripping her. A hidden cave, a reward, reality slipping, and power and control are beckoning. Uncertainty and choices lead to dark paths. Sarah complied, fearing the unknown. Urgency and the cave's depths awaited. A dangerous allure, dread mounting. Unease, an invisible stalker, the crunch of footsteps. The weight of a gaze, fear, and defiance entwined.

"I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to win!"

From Guest Contributor J. Iner Souster

The Stalker Inside Me

I’ve been watching them. Her and her baby. I know she'll leave the baby alone in a minute for what she thinks is only seconds. But precious seconds for me.

She turns and enters a walk-in closet.

I move closer.

The aroma of milk on its breath sends me over the edge.

I jump.

I'm grabbed by the back of my neck while still in flight and hauled against the wall. I didn't know she was a ninja.

He storms into the room.

"Why did you do that to Churchill?"

"Keep your freaking cat away from my baby."

Divorce follows.

From Guest Contributor E. Barnes

E has works in The Purple Pen, The Haven, Spillwords, Centina Pentina, Entropy, NanoNightmares and a collection of the works, Flash Crazy, was published in 2021 and is available on Amazon.

Stalker

She was always staring at him, even in the eighth grade when I sat behind him, green with envy.

"He doesn't even know you're alive?" I snipped at her in the tenth grade when I caught her staring at him in the cafeteria.

He did not recognize either of us when we attended his lecture at Harvard. I couldn't have cared less what the new advances in pediatric neurosurgery were, but I went at her insistence.

I stand on the walk and give them distance, as she places red roses on his grave.

Tonight, I finally have her to myself.

From Guest Contributor E. Barnes

Her Biggest Regret

She had an ex-boyfriend named Carl. She regretted him more than those leather pants or that weekend trip to Trenton. He was her worst mistake in a lifetime of blunders.

Carl still stalked her intermittently. She always knew when he was nearby because of the hamburger wrappers in her stairwell. These occasions should probably have frightened her more than they did, but she knew Carl was essentially harmless. He had a hard time with letting go.

Years later she realized that she had never actually broken up with Carl. He wasn't stalking her. He simply thought they were still dating.