5. movie night

The school bell rang throughout the halls of Brown Elementary. Nine year old Bobby Martin shoved his book and folder into his bookbag and raced for the door to exit the classroom. It was Wednesday, and that meant it was movie night. This was Bobby’s favorite night of the week. Dad didn’t work late at the factory, and mom made lasagna. After dinner and talking about their day, they would sit and watch a movie together. This was Bobby’s only night he was allowed to stay up past his bedtime, and he usually ended up falling asleep on the couch during the movie right between his mom and dad. Ironically enough, the time he usually dozed off at was just a few minutes past his regular bedtime. When the movie was over, his dad would pick Bobby up and take him to bed and his mom would tuck him in.

Bobby jumped off the last step of the school bus and onto the sidewalk. He looked to his left, and then his right, and raced for the front door of his house, pretending he was being chased by a monster. He tried to open the front door but it was locked. He rushed around the side of the house and tried the back door. It was also locked. “That’s okay,” Bobby thinks to himself. “Maybe dad went out to run some errands and he’ll be back soon.” He sat down on the back porch and pulled out his math homework to do while he waited.

Janice Martin loaded up the last of the groceries in the back of the station wagon. She closed the back hatch and pushed her cart toward one of the cart corrals. On her way there, she grabbed two other carts along the way that had been left sitting in the parking lot. Janice pushed the three carts neatly into the cart corral then walked back to her car. She hopped in and put the key in the ignition. The old station wagon slowly but surely cranked over. As it started up, it blew out a big cloud of black smoke from the exhaust. Janice backed out of the parking spot and began to head home.

On the way home, Janice noticed a few raindrops hit the windshield. She could see a dark cloud coming up in the sky overhead. POP! The station wagon started to handle rough so Jane pulled over to the curb. She was pretty sure she hadn’t run anything over, but sure enough, as she got out and walked around the car she saw not just one, but two tires had blown out on the passenger side of the car.

“Great.” Janice thought to herself. “‘I’ve only got one spare.” She pulls out her phone and calls roadside assistance. The operator told her the soonest somebody could get to her for a tow would be 45 minutes.

“Are you serious?” Janice asked the operator, annoyed. “I have groceries in the car that are going to spoil by then.” It started to rain steadily.

“I’m sorry Mrs. Martin,” the operator replied, “in the middle of rush hour this is the absolute best service we can provide you given the circumstances.

“Okay.” Janice sighed. “I’ll be here waiting.” She got back in the car and shut the door. The rain thudded against the roof of the station wagon. Janice dialed her husband’s phone. It rang a few times and then went to voicemail. “Derrick, it’s going to be a while before I can make it home. The station wagon broke down with all the groceries in the back so just order a pizza.”

Once the tow truck came, it was pouring rain. Janice didn’t make it home until two hours after she had called her husband. The tow truck pulled up at the house and Janice walked up to the front door and tried to open it. It was locked. She looked toward the driveway and realized Derrick’s car wasn’t there. Perplexed, she reached into her purse, grabbed her keys, and unlocked the front door. The entire house was dark. She walked through the living room and into the kitchen. Janice flips the light switch. Bobby’s bookbag isn’t on the table. She could tell nobody has been home since she left for the store. Panicked, she calls her husband’s phone. Janice hears a ringing coming from the living room. Soaking wet from the rain, she stomps back into the living room and sees Derrick’s phone sitting on the half wall by the door. The front door opens and Derrick walks in. He’s wearing his work uniform and looks at Janice, confused.

“What happened with the station wagon?” He asks.

Janice picks up Derrick’s phone and shows it to him. “You would know what happened if you wouldn’t forget your phone all the time. And where’s Bobby? Did you just now get off work?”

“Yeah, didn’t you see the note I left for you on the refrigerator?” Derrick points towards the kitchen. “Everyone is on mandatory overtime this week. I wrote all the details down like you always tell me to, so don’t get an attitude with me. And how am I supposed to know where Bobby is? He’s not with you?”

Janice throws her arms in the air. “No, you idiot! How could he have been with me? I’m just getting back from the store! All the food is spoiled and I had to wait forever for the stupid tow truck to pick me up.”

The two decide to call a couple of their neighbors, hoping to hear from Bobby. None of the neighbors had seen him.

“This is your fault.” Janice accused Derrick. “You shouldn’t have worked late. You know this is the one day where you’re supposed to be here when Bobby gets home from school.”

Derrick storms over to the coat closet and grabs his raincoat. “I don’t know what part of “mandatory” you didn’t understand, Janice. I didn’t have an option, and I left a note. What the hell else do you want from me? I’m going to grab a flashlight from the garage and go look for Bobby. Are you going to come with me or do you just want to point fingers all night?”

“Yes. I’m coming.” Janice exhales. “Let me get an umbrella.”

Derrick goes through the kitchen and unlocks and opens the back door. He tries to exit through the screen door, but it won’t open. Derrick sees that the screen door is unlocked and pushes on the door a few more times. It still won’t budge. He flips on the rear porch light to find Bobby is asleep, with his sweatshirt hood pulled over his head, and using his backpack as a pillow. “Bobby?” Derrick says confused. “Bobby wake up it’s your father!”

Bobby stirs and sits up. He squints and looks up through the screen door to see his dad. Bobby yawns and stands up and grabs his backpack. Derrick opens the screen door and grabs him up in his arms. Janice is standing next to him.

“You had us so worried!” Janice exclaims as she kisses Bobby on the cheek. “What were you doing out there in the rain? Why didn’t you go to one of the neighbor’s houses? You’re completely soaked!”

Bobby rubs eyes. “I was doing homework on the back porch and guess I fell asleep. I thought one of you would be home soon so I didn’t worry about it.”

“You gave us both a big scare, bud.” Derrick laughs. “Let’s get you into the some dry clothes and have some dinner.”

“The groceries are spoiled. We’re going to have to order a pizza.” Janice explains. “I’ll call and order your favorite Bobby. Triple cheese with cheesy crust.”

Bobby pumps his fist. “Alright! What movie are we going to watch tonight?”

“You still want to watch a movie?” Derricks asks.

“Of course I do dad!” Bobby says with excitement. “Movie nights with you and mom are the best!”

The End

Thank you

Hey everyone I just wanted you to know that it's amazing that you've been taking time out of your busy schedules and giving me the time of day. I've been listening to and noting your criticism I've gotten from you, both positive and negative and I really aim to improve my story telling abilities and im the happiest I've been in a long time. I love interacting with and talking to you guys about the stories and really appreciate it. I aim to keep the stories coming and plan to have some things coming up that will require fan interaction and will hopefully be fun for everyone. I have a list of genres/vague ideas I'm working through and im incredibly honored to be given the time of day. Thank you again and I'll see you all tomorrow with a new story! I also plan on doing some simple illustrations to compliment the stories soon!

barry doesn't do anything wrong and nobody suffers the consequences of his actions

Barry leaned back in his seat and rubbed his forehead. He felt like he had been at sitting for hours, but according to his watch he glanced at, it had only been about twenty minutes. It was his week again for monitor duty at the space station named Beta Prime. They had been orbiting Earth for officially one year today. Barry and his coworkers duties at Beta Prime were to collect data and watch for any sort of extraterrestrial threats, whatever those may be. He glared at the monitors in front of him, struggling to keep his eyes open.

It was so pointless, Barry thought to himself. What was the point of watching the monitors? Like, if there had to be someone to monitor the monitors at all times then what was the point of the monitors in the first place? But Captain Trag insisted someone stayed on the bridge at all times in case something were to happen, and that someone usually ended up being Barry. “Trag definitely has it out for me.” He thought to himself, “He knows how boring monitor duty is. We’ve been up here a literal year and nothing has ever happened.”

Barry stares at the screen with the radar displayed. Despite being super high tech space technology, it’s just a black screen with green circles on it with a green line that just goes round and round the screen in a circle. Barry’s eyes start to get heavy as he follows the green line around and around and around an…

CRASH! A cup of coffee sitting on the control board that had gone cold hours ago falls onto the floor and breaks. Barry sits forward in his chair abruptly, startled by the noise. His chair was vibrating vigorously. In fact the whole space station felt like it was shaking. Barry wipes the impressive amount of drool off his face with his sleeve. The glass of the radar screen is cracked as are several other screens. There is a big red light blinking over and over on the dashboard which definitely meant something was wrong.

Barry desperately tapped on the keyboard in front of him and then pushed a few colored buttons and pulled back a lever. The data on one of the dozen broken screens in front of him read that Beta Prime had been impacted by something big. Big enough to knock it out of orbit and setting it on a trajectory towards Earth’s moon. At the speed the station was going at, it would surely be blasted into pieces once it impacted the moon’s surface.

Panicked, Barry got up and exited the bridge, making a dash for emergency escape pods. As he raced down the hall, he was confronted by Captain Trag, who had just exited the galley into the hallway. “What’s going on Barry?” Trag asked sternly. “You know you’re not ever supposed to leave the bridge when you’re on monitor duty. Anything could happen at any moment. Vigilance is key, that’s why I appointed you for this duty specifically.”

Barry rubbed his forearm, “Just had to take a quick leak. Uh,you didn’t like..you haven’t heard anything weird going on have you? Because I’ve been watching the monitors unblinkingly and we just ran into a little space turbulence. Nothing serious.”

Captain Trag looked at Barry perplexed. “Is that what that vibration was? Space turbulence? I’m not sure if that’s a real thing.” He said accusingly.

Barry started backing away slowly, toward the emergency escape pods. “Of course it’s a thing. Like..if you don’t believe me just look it up.”

“Ha! Okay then Barry. But make sure you get back to the bridge quickly.” Captain Trag put a hand firmly on Barry’s shoulder. “Always be vigilant!”

“You know I will Cap!’ Barry nodded. He began to race down the hallway. The station began to shake and vibrate more and more as he ran. He made it to a door and pushed a button. The door slid open for him to enter and shut behind him. In this room, a row of space suits lined the walls. Barry put one on as quickly as he could and then went through the next door. In this room were the escape pods. He jumped into one and hit the eject button.

Barry and his escape pod shot out into space just in time. Grimacing, he watches Beta Prime as it crashes into the moon’s surface. It blasts apart upon impact and everyone on it definitely died. “Man, he really shouldn’t have trusted me with monitor duty.” Barry said looking at the wreckage.

SLAP! Barry jumps forward in his seat. He rubs his face. Startled, he sees Captain Trag standing over him intimidatingly. “You’re off monitor duty Barry. You just put everyone on Beta Prime at risk by falling asleep on the job. Get to the sleeping pods and I’ll find something to do for you in the morning.”

Barry stands up and shakes the Captain’s hand. “Thank you, sir. I…I’m sorry I let you down.”

Captain Trag shakes his head in disappointment. “Just be glad nothing happened while you were sleeping at your post.”

The End

3. noelle and olive

The day Olive was born was the happiest day in Noelle’s life. Ever since she was little, Noelle dreamed of this day. The day where she, just a regular girl from the midwest, gave the gift of life to another human being. She held the little peanut-shaped girl in her arms. Olive seemed so tiny yet so full of energy. And yes, this is all very cliche. Noelle is aware of this. But for her, it was the most perfectly cliche thing to ever happen.

Unfortunately, there were some complications with sweet little Olive. She was born with a rare genetic condition that Noelle had unknowingly been a carrier of. This meant that the first few months of Olive’s bright, new life were going to be fairly difficult. The condition was rare, and had several different medical terms for it, but what it basically wound down to was Olive was born with a heart much smaller than the average newborn.

When the doctors told Noelle this news and that she was the carrier of this condition, her whole world fell apart. Noelle came from a small family, who thought in more traditional ways of raising a family. One where a man and woman get married and then have children. However, Noelle was a very independent individual and firmly believed she was completely prepared to raise a child on her own. She went to a clinic and was artificially inseminated. Noelle wanted to prove to herself and her family what she thought she was capable of.

Noelle blamed herself for not knowing about the heart condition. She blamed herself as little Olive was sent to the newborn intensive care unit. The doctors told her they weren’t sure how long Olive would be stuck in the hospital, and they dared not speak of the worst thing that could happen if she were removed from her life support system.

Two days passed and Noelle was free to leave the hospital, but as for Olive, no one could say. Noelle wanted nothing more than to sit and rock little Olive back and forth and whisper to her everything would be okay, but she needed to get back to work. Noelle was a full-time waitress at the diner down the street from her apartment. Her mom had always told her she could be so much more than just a waitress. Noelle didn’t want to be anything fancy or famous or wealthy. All Noelle had always wanted her whole life was a daughter. A little version of herself she could teach and protect and watch grow.

For the next three weeks, all Noelle could think about all day at the diner was getting off work to see little Olive. The visits were bittersweet. Olive was being kept in a specially designed cradle that fed her oxygen. Noelle was miserable, and she knew Olive had to be too. It had been twenty days now since Noelle had held Olive in her arms. Sometimes Noelle would fall asleep with her head resting against the life support chamber until the nurses would reluctantly wake her and tell her she was not allowed to sleep overnight in the newborn intensive care unit.

Another week passed and Noelle had to do something. Anything. She knew even though Olive was just a baby, that she was miserable inside her little box unable to be touched or held or caressed like all babies deserve. The doctors and nurses still had no idea on how long Olive would be stuck inside the hospital. Noelle worried Olive’s heart wouldn’t ever be strong enough for her to experience the beauty of life outside of her little box.

Noelle had had enough. She  pried open the specially made cradle and removed the iv and breathing tube from sweet little Olive. The monitors and sensors went into alert almost immediately but as soon as any of the hospital staff could make it to the newborn intensive care unit, it was too late. Noelle and Olive were gone…

Inside of a small apartment a few blocks down from the hospital, the television flickers, playing old infomercials whose numbers at the bottom of the screen surely were no longer in service. Noelle is lying on the couch and is holding Olive close. Olive’s head rests on Noelle’s shoulder. Noelle takes her last sip of wine mixed with five times the amount of sleeping medication she’s prescribed to take. She pushes part of her hair behind her ear, closes eyes, and smiles. Shortly after, Olive’s body begins to shake for a few moments then she stops breathing.

The End

2. prince viktor

It was a cold winter morning in the land of Lawry. Prince Viktor woke up freezing in his bedroom quarters. He could see his breath when he exhaled. “This is bullshit.” he mutters to himself as he wraps himself up in blankets and crawls out of bed. He stumbles out of his quarters and makes his way down the hall to the king and queen’s room. The prince attempts to throw the door open only to find its locked. “Mom! Dad! Its Viktor!” After a few moments, he hears the door unlock and sees his dad wearing his royal robe.”

“Dad, we’re the wealthiest people in all of Lawry. I don’t understand why he can’t throw a few damn logs in the wood burner.” Viktor says in frustration.

The king chuckles, “Son, you know that’s not the proper way to address your father.”

Viktor rolls his eyes, “Okay, King Dad what’s your obsession with freezing your next of kin’s balls off?”

“If you would simply cast a warming enchantment on your garments there would be no need for this silly conversation. Until I and Queen Mother have passed on, the castle will remain whatever degree of temperature we wish it to be. Now, if you’ll be so kind to excuse me, I was just in the middle of breakfast.” King Dad begins to close the door.

Prince Viktor puts his foot in the doorway. “Wait, when did you get breakfast? Are you having the servants skip me??”

Kind Dad laughs heartily. “Oh no my boy nothing like that. I was talking about going to town on your dear mother’s genitalia.” He pushes Viktor out of the doorway and shut and locks the door behind him.

“Oh my god dad that’s gross!” the young prince yells at the door. From behind the door he hears his father call, “You meant to say King Dad!”

Prince Viktor wraps his blankets tighter in frustration. “He knows I have not yet learned that enchantment,” he thinks to himself as we walks back to his bedroom quarters. “Magic is ridiculous anyway. We have wood. We have a wood burner. Why not use the forsaken thing?”

As he enters his bedroom quarters a matronly servant lays out his garments for the day on his freshly made bed. There is an eating tray on the nightstand with toast. “Will you finally be learning some enchantments today to keep you warm?” the servant asks. “It’s really quite simple. If I recall correctly, I last saw the book in the study on one of the book cases.”

“Thank you servant.” Prince Viktor replied. The servant exits the prince’s quarters. Viktor changes into his royal garb from his pajamas and grabs the toast off of the tray. He heads down the hall to the study.

When the prince enters the study, he finds the book of spells and enchantments sitting on a table next to a chair. He throws himself down in the chair and reluctantly picks up the book. “I shouldn’t have to learn the dumb enchantment,” Viktor thinks to himself. “Magic is dumb. I want to do things for real. When I become king I will outlaw this stuff. Everyone thinks they can just cast a spell and everything will be fine. Nobody thinks about how it’s a limited resource and it can run out one day. Each day the magical well is drained further and further. Soon it will be totally depleted. Then what will the people do? They will have to learn how to fend for themselves and it’ll be too late because they’re so dependant on magic. I’ll show them...”

Meanwhile, in the royal quarters King Dad takes a big gulp of mead and sets his  stein down on the night stand firmly. “Breakfast in bed is my favorite.” He runs his arm across his mouth, wiping mead and vaginal cumgasm from his thick beard. Queen Mom snaps her fingers and a tobacco pipe appears. She then puts one hand in a fist and flicks her thumb. A small flame appears above her thumb. Queen Mom lights her tobacco pipe and takes a puff.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! King Dad exhales and shouts toward the door, “Yes Viktor, what is it now? Surely you have not come to complain furthermore. I happen to have recently learned a few spells of ass-whooping.”

“King Dad come here quickly!” Prince Viktor shouts from outside the royal quarters. “I have learned a new spell you may quite enjoy!”

The king ties his belt around his robe and mutters, “Hopefully it is one to make you less of a pansy.” King Dad opens the door to see Prince Viktor pointing a musket at him.

“I think it’s time to put some wood in the wood burner. But first, I’ll throw you in there.” Prince Viktor fires the musket at the king’s mid section. The musket ball ricocheted off the king’s body and goes right through Prince Viktor’s face. King Dad looks down at his son lying on the stone floor and shakes his head in disappointment. His face is totally exploded and there’s a lot of blood obviously.

“I’m supposing it wasn’t the spell of impenetrability then..” King Dad scratches his head. He mutters a phrase in a language unknown. Prince Viktor’s blown off face reforms to his head and he sits forward. He rubs his head and asks what happened.

“You shot your own face off.” King Dad replies. “Now quit fucking around and get to school.”

The End

1. old lady

HONK HONK! The old lady hears from behind her as she drives twenty-five miles per hour in her burgundy car. She checks her rearview mirror and sees two young women in the car behind her throwing their arms up in frustration. The old lady smiles and continues going the speed limit with her hands on the steering wheel at ten and two. The road they are driving on is just one lane each way so the young women in the car are unable to pass. The old lady is on her way to the grocery store to pick up a few items and her prescription at the pharmacy. She wonders if she forgot to put anything on the grocery list. The sun is shining brightly and the handsome, young weatherman said today is supposed to be the hottest day of the summer, but the inside of her car is a chilly sixty-eight degrees.

The two young girls have been driving behind the old lady for several seconds now, and they are growing even more impatient. They trade insults back and forth to each other about the old lady in front of them. Things like: “Where is she even going? On her way to the cemetery to bury herself?” The girl in the passenger seat sticks her head out the window and yells, “Just because you wasted your whole life going the speed limit doesn’t mean we have to, you old cunt!”

However, the old lady cannot hear the insult, but she does check her rearview mirror again and notices the girls behind her are driving much too close to her. The driver of the car behind the old lady keeps checking for a gap in oncoming traffic so she can speed past.

The old lady reminisces about the show on television she was watching last night. It was a compilation of funny videos filmed by families using their own cameras. Her favorite video was footage from a family dinner where a baby was eating spaghetti. The baby had gotten spaghetti all over the place and even had a few noodles sitting on top of his head. The old lady chuckles to herself about how the baby had managed to get the noodles on top of his head and was completely oblivious to them.

The old lady gazes over to the curb and sees a bunch of geese with their baby chicks attempting to cross the road. The old lady slows to a stop to let them pass. She watches the clumsy chicks try and keep up with their parents and finds it very amusing. The old lady is in no rush today, nor any day. She believes that the journey is sometimes just as exciting as the adventure and every moment of life should try to be enjoyed.

“I’ve had it with this raggedy-assed bitch.” the young woman driving the car slams on her brakes to avoid rear-ending the old lady as she stops to let the geese and baby chicks pass. She sticks her head out her window and doesn’t see any oncoming traffic for the moment. She punches her gas pedal and swerves into the oncoming traffic lane. The geese family was just beginning to cross into the oncoming traffic lane when the two young ladies speed past. The adult goose in front stops suddenly and honks to alert the group to wait. Just as the car speeds by the old lady, the young passenger sticks her head out the window and makes eye-contact with the old lady and shouts “Suck an old dick you dusty whore!”

The old lady waves and smiles as the car speeds past her. The insult could not be heard through the old lady’s car window. The old lady thinks to herself how funny it is that young people are always in such a rush. She’s also relieved none of the geese or baby chicks were harmed. They continue to cross the street without incident and climb down into the ditch that runs along the street. The old lady lays her foot down on the gas to continue her adventure.

After a couple of miles, the old lady stops behind some traffic. She leans over in her seat trying to peer past the the cars ahead to see what the hubbub is all about. It seems she might be stuck for a while so she grabs a book in the passenger seat. She puts the car in park and opens her book and begins reading.

Several minutes pass by and the traffic finally begins to move. The old lady marks her page with a bookmark her grandson had made for her in art class and begins driving again. She notices some smoke up ahead. As she nears the smoke she sees a car on the side of the road with the front end smashed severely. There is an ambulance with with one of the young girls she recognized from earlier sitting on the back end. She’s sobbing. The old lady rolls her window down and slows to a stop.

“Why are you crying sweetie?” the old woman asks the young lady. The young lady wipes her tears off her face and replies, “I accidentally drove off the road and the car flipped in the ditch. My friend is dead.”

The old lady looked over at the mangled car and smiles. “You should really slow down. If you drove more carefully your friend would still be alive. This is on your hands.”

The old lady rolls up her window and continues her drive to the grocery store

The End