October 6, 2023
hughjodonnell
Everyday Drabbles, Free Fiction
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction, Halloween Drabbles
He looked forward to this time of year, even though he hated it.
When the weather changed, he was always itchy and uncomfortable, and his skin no longer felt like his own. He felt trapped within it, like a sausage with too much filling.
But it was always a relief when he finally burst out and felt the cool air again. And he was always a little bit different. His limbs were longer, or bent differently, or he’d grown a new appendage. He was still a growing boy.
The other children in his school always made such a fuss, though.
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October 5, 2023
hughjodonnell
Everyday Drabbles, Free Fiction
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction, Halloween, Halloween Drabbles
Every night, she dreamed the same dream. But when she woke up in the morning, the memory of it vanished, leaving only a recurring sense of unease.
She tried to explain to her therapist how certain she was that every night she was experiencing the same nightmare. But she could never remember a single thing about when she woke up, coloring her days with dread and frustration.
That night, she found herself again trying to explain her dream, and realized, just like every night, that this was the nightmare.
She was unable to tell if she was asleep or awake.
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October 4, 2023
hughjodonnell
Everyday Drabbles, Free Fiction
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction, Halloween Drabbles
“I know that she’s an angel,” I whispered into the phone. “I don’t think she knows I know.”
My rabbi made a non-committal noise. “In some ways, anyone who does God’s work is an angel,” she offered.
“I just hoped you’d have some advice.”
“If you love this woman, you should tell her how you feel and trust in God.”
“Thanks,” I said, not really meaning it.
My girlfriend poked her head out of the kitchen. She was enveloped in holy radiance and ringed by burning eyes.
“I don’t feel like cooking tonight. How does pizza sound?”
“Good,” I sad.
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October 3, 2023
hughjodonnell
Everyday Drabbles, Free Fiction
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction, Halloween, Halloween Drabbles
When his kitchen was infested with fruit flies, he was glad for the spiders. They resolved the issue in a matter of days, and he just had to sweep up the webs.
But afterwards, the spiders seemed to be everywhere. They spread from the kitchen to every room in his house. He tried to catch and release them at first, but there were too many, and he just started squashing them.
One morning, he woke up covered in spider silk. The room was full webs. The spiders had even spun a message into a web above the bedposts.
‘Union Now.’
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October 2, 2023
hughjodonnell
Everyday Drabbles
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction, Halloween Drabbles
Frank was a regular. The mean, ugly, bastard always sat in the corner and grumbled into his beer. I didn’t really like him, but he was seven feet tall, built like a linebacker and never caused any trouble.The other patrons avoided him, and he did the same. I tried to get him to open up, but he wouldn’t have it. He wanted to drink alone and be miserable, and who was I to judge?He did tell me once that he hated his father. When I asked him why, he just shrugged. “You think I’m a monster? He’s worse.”
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October 1, 2023
hughjodonnell
Everyday Drabbles, Free Fiction
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction, Halloween Drabbles
The medium sat in her parlor and waited. All her tricks and tools were ready, from the tilting table to the hidden ‘ectoplasm.’ But those were just icing, it was her patter that put her in demand.
She gave the rubes a fright, or reassured them that their loved ones were in a better place. All this ghost malarkey was hogwash to her, but playing a psychic was a safe grift, and she was good at it.
The kids stood outside, working up the courage to enter the abandoned house. They said a famous medium’s ghost still haunted the place
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August 1, 2023
hughjodonnell
Everyday Drabbles, Free Fiction
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction
The cat sprinted across the savanna, a remnant of her kill clamped tightly in her jaws. She just had to get to the tree line. Her kits were always hungry, but it wasn’t safe for them out in the open.
The sun faded as it passed behind one of the floating islands that hung over the plains. They were home to the biggest, strongest predators, who weren’t particular about what they ate.
She heard the roar, and the sound of giant wings as the dragon pulled into a dive.
It follow her into the the forest.
She was almost there.
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July 31, 2023
hughjodonnell
Everyday Drabbles, Free Fiction
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction
They called what she did unforgivable. She was a necromancer, and she bound the vengeful dead.
She was not an exorcist. She did not help those who were trapped between pass on. But her job was similar. She found those who trapped between life and death due to unfinished business or unfulfilled desires. But she didn’t free them. She wrote contracts.
She found little ghosts bound to the location or circumstances of their deaths, fated to rage in eternal futility, and reforged them into weapons.
The way she saw it, everyone got what they wanted. Everyone got what they deserved.
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July 23, 2023
hughjodonnell
Everyday Drabbles, Free Fiction
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction
The monster made a nest for itself in the east hall of the palace. It had reaped out the massive windows to better access the sky and suspended a web of fibrous mucous from the walls.
The stink was overwhelming, and the knot of threads at the center dripped red with gore. The beast itself was out hunting.
I climbed up for a better look. Four squirming, squawking larvae were still inside. Each was the size of a large dog already.
I began cutting the threads. If we could get them out before the mother returned, we would be rich.
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July 22, 2023
hughjodonnell
Everyday Drabbles, Free Fiction
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction
The actor didn’t exist. His face was a composite of the best features of a dozen background actors, hired for a day’s work and scanned. His body was constructed by AI based on the latest social media fitness trends. His voice was synthesized by algorithm using data scraped from the top five romance novel audiobook narrators.
But one day, the machine just stopped working, and production shut down. The studio executive hauled the lead programmer into his office to demand answers.
“It’s the model. It won’t leave its trailer, so to speak.”
“What?”
“The AI is having an existential crisis.”
The Mountain’s Shadow is now available from Amazon and Smashwords!
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Hugh J. O'Donnell 