Super Short Story #4

 It was like every other time she and her sisters had gone over to their grandparents house. Fun times in the backyard, playing ball with the cousins or ping-pong in the basement. The house was on a hilltop – over looking the valley. It wasn't very often that the girls got to see their grandparents, and Jackie felt that this time would be different. Unlike the other times they had visited, Jackie's parents had packed for an overnight stay. Now, this itself was strange because Jackie and the family lived about 30 miles away. But, it didn't phase Jackie in the least.

The girls; Jackie, Aubrey, and Melonie loved playing ball with the cousins. Especially since they had enough players for two whole teams. So, the girls went outside and played some with the cousins. But, what was happening side the house was something far different. The children didn't hear the screaming and yelling coming from the house.

“Kids, its time for bed!” Yelled their mother from the small porch.

The girls rushed into the house, clambered into their pajamas, and stood in line to give their Grandma and Grandpa a kiss on the cheek before heading into the room that they would spend the night in.

It was starting to get dark when Jackie heard a funny noise coming from the kitchen. She got up out of bed and tip-toed her way to where the hallway connected into the kitchen. What she saw there made her sick and furious. Her father was bent over the broken body of her Grandpa. What had he done? Jackie stayed where she was as she watched her father carry his father to the back yard. She quickly tip-toed to the big picture windows to see what her father was doing. She looked down and watched as her father took up a shovel, dug a hole, and buried her Grandpa.

With that, Jackie ran to her room and woke up her younger siblings. She motioned them to be quiet as they scrambled out the window. Where would they go? Jackie didn't know the answer but she knew that they had to get somewhere. The family wasn't safe, her father already proved that by killing their Grandpa. Jackie remembered a time where she felt safe, that one place was Mt. St. Helens. She didn't really understand why she was drawn to such a place, especially since there was no security or people that she could trust there.

The three girls ran towards the street. Just as they were to turn the corner to go down the hill, a car stopped.

“Do you three ladies need a ride?”

“Yes, sir we do. Our father just murdered our Grandfather, we need to get to Windy Ridge at Mt. St. Helens. If you could take us,” said Jackie as she nervously walked towards the car. What she didn't realize that it was her uncle.

“Hop in ladies.”

Mt. St. Helens: 3 hours later

Jackie and her sisters got out of the car at Windy Ridge. They walked on the paths a bit, to get a closer look into the mountains crater. Just then, Jackie caught a glimpse of something shiny. She turned around and saw her dad rushing at her. Out of no where Aubrey came up behind her with a sword. . . .

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Dang it all! Jackie thought to herself as she slowly began to wake up. She had wanted to know how that dream ended. Would they all die? Did Aubrey kill their dad? And why were there swords involved? The dream by itself made no sense to her at all.

Six years later:

Jackie woke up screaming. I've had this dream before she said to herself. But wasn't it Aubrey who had the sword? Why did Melonie have the sword this time? The dream still made no sense.

The dream would haunt Jackie for years. Everyone once in a great while she would think about the dream and what mysteries it held. Every six years, since the very first dream, this horrible nightmare would repeat itself and it always ended the same. One of her sisters with a sword andBEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Super Short Story #3

Kevin was a just a young child when his mother died. He never really found out how she had died. The orphanage that he spent most of his childhood at told him that she had fallen ill during the outbreak of 2910. Pretty close to a third of the Earth's population died in the outbreak. Some say it was the bubonic plague, while others said it was the small pox, and even more said it was God's wrath upon mankind for being so full of themselves.

Kevin was short for his age with golden hair and grey-ish eyes. His eyes shone with mischief and playfulness. These, of course, were not qualities that the orphanage wanted to see. They wanted obedience. Kevin learned at a very young age what discipline was. Each time he got a little too rowdy with one of the other boys he was whipped until his back bled. To his advantage, the scars on his back toughened his skin, so that he couldn't feel the onslaught of the whip.

It wasn't until he reached the ripe old age of 12 that he was sent out of the confines of the orphanage to seek work. Work was hard enough to find since the outbreak. Those that were strong enough were forced into cruel manual labor, at the docks mostly. Those who weren't so strong were sent to the capital where they were destined to a life of boring paperwork. There weren't any poor or homeless, the outbreak fixed that. In fact, rumors had it, that the outbreak was caused by the poor and homeless.

Kevin walked along, what used to be a train trestle, to get to town. As he approached the edge of town, a group of boys came upon him. They all seemed to be his age, their clothing were nothing more than rags, and they all seemed to be smoking. Not exactly knowing what he should do, Kevin decided that the best thing to do was to run. But, the gang of boys easily caught up to Kevin with ease.

“Hey kid,” the leader of the group shouted, “you looking for work? Because we have room for one more boy in our enterprise.”

“And what might that be?”

“You will just have to join to find out.”

So, with that, Kevin started his life of crime. It really kinda suited him, the thrill of the chase, the total lack of discipline, and constant money in his pocket. The gang was his family, his only source of support. The orphanage was a memory from a distant past.

When Kevin turned 15, everything started to get a bit testy. The gangs old haunting grounds were slowly starting to be patrolled by the centurions. Taken from the ancients, these men were known for their courage and brutality. No one got away from these men. A couple members of the gang had already been captured by the centurions. The only way the gang knew this – was because the boys' heads were mounted on spikes on the capital buildings green lawn. Yes, even the ancient ways of torture had been brought back into use, as the outbreak had torn through the Earth's inhabitants.

Kevin watched as his friends, one by one, were captured. What was he supposed to do? Go into hiding? What would he do for work? He looked around him, looking for his escape. He saw a little raft, he quickly made a dash for the raft. I made it, Kevin thought to himself. Just then, he heard the loud thundering bang of a gun going off. He pitched forward. Did I make it? Was his last thought as the darkness overwhelmed him.

Super Short Story #2

It was a strange place, he thought to himself. The sun high in the sky, scorching everything its rays touched. He had already been walking, what seemed to be forever. But, who really knew in this desert? He could've been going around in circles and he wouldn't even know it. He didn't come prepared for this. He was still dressed in his armor and chain mail. The metal absorbed all the heat of the mid-day sun. Under the armor he was very slowly dehydrating, especially since he hadn't thought of bringing water to the fight. Why would he? He didn't know he was going to end up in a desert.

It didn't occur to him that once he slayed the sharp-toothed dragon that it would some how transport him to this place. The dragon had been threatening his home town for years. Taking people away to devour them later, possibly as a midnight snack. The thing was huge but beautiful. That was its danger. It was the color of the rainbow, beautiful in appearance. Its fire lite the sky as it would approach the town. All the other knights refused to go and kill such a beast. Goodrich was the only one who had the courage to save the town.

Looking back, Goodrich didn't really know what persuaded him to be the one. He was starting to have second thoughts as his squires helped put his armor on. He was a big guy, standing at just under six foot and weighed at least a good 14 stone. The armor would add another four stone to that. He was to go out with no horse, which meant that walking was going to be a pain. “Sir! Its time to go,” the squires shouted as the day slowed drifted into night.

As he was about to leave, the squires brought him the special arrows need for killing the beast. They weren't just made out of the toughest metal known to man, they had the venom of the scorpion saturating them. His people were a very inventive people. They had survived many years trying to kill these beasts. He latched the quiver and bow securely to his armor as he strode out of the keep.

Everything seemed to slow as he approached the dragons home, a cave that extended to the shore (a 3 miles away from Goodrich's location). No one had ever made it out alive from this cave. Would he be the first? He stepped into the cave, forgetting to arm himself with a torch. But, he could tell where to go by the stench in the air. The smell of rotting flesh of all kinds assaulted Goodrich's nose. He had known what the beast ate but wasn't ready himself for the fact that he might end up being the next meal.

He turned a bend in the cave. The beast must have heard him coming. Goodrich could see its eyes, a very vibrant green with gold where it should have been white. He reached for an arrow and his bow. . . .

The mid-day sun was a surprise to him. Wasn't it just dark? And what is this crunching under my feet? He was sweltering underneath his armor. He took his helmet off, hopefully so he could see better. He looked around him. He was in a desert and the crunching beneath his feet were what remained of someones or somethings meals. Human skulls – white and gleaming in the sun smiled up at him in a mocking gaze.

This brought another question to his mind, where was the beast? He knew for sure that he had not gotten his shot off or did he? He walked farther, slowly dehydrating in the mid-day sun. He had no water, he wasn't expecting this.

He heard a noise behind me but he kept walking. “What are you doing, human? You came to kill me but are you man enough to do it? I am but the only one of my kind left...,” a strong voice said behind him.

“What am I to do, Master Dragon?” he said not even turning toward his foe.

“Look at me, human,” was the dragons response.

Goodrich turned towards what he was expecting, a huge beast – but in its place was a creature the size of a miniature scorpion. It was brightly colored, with the big vibrant green eyes with gold around them.

“Human, this is what I look like in the sun. Your species is my only threat. I change to what things around me picture me as. A shape shifter of sorts. I am virtually harmless, unless provoked. The skeletons surrounding you are the remains of those who were going to kill me, and I transported them here, and here they died looking for me. You seem smarter then the rest, Human. I will transport you back to your world if you promise never to come after me again. And, I will promise you that I will never go back to your village.”

Goodrich looked at the tiny being, still trying to comprehend what he was told. He bent down on one leg, reached out to the dragon. “Master dragon, I will promise you. We shall be friends, we shall.”

The dragon looked up into Goodrich's eyes, blinked, and vanished. Before he knew what was happening, Goodrich was lying in his bed, inside the keep. Was it just a dream?