Short story
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Claudia Minervina tossed and turned all night. Her body tensing, her fists tightened until her nails drew blood from her palms. She watched her son scream in pain while being whipped by Roman soldiers. 40 times, holding back 1 for mercy. She cried out and pushed against the wall of Roman soldiers blocking her from…
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I was attending a playback theater show, where audience members share personal stories and the actors reenact them, and an older woman shared a story of a war fought when she was just 9 years old. After the show, I found her and asked if she could retell her story to me. What follows is…
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Carl woke up next to his wife just as he had since he was 19. He wasn’t surprised to see that his daughter, Ava, had climbed into bed just between them in the middle of the night. She had been having nightmares for a few days now. He used his phone’s flash to figure out…
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Proxima Centauri b—Earth’s nearest exoplanetary neighbor—had been a subject of fascination for nearly a century. Now, nearly four years after the first launch toward its orbit, John found himself marooned aboard a ship swallowed by its own jungle of oxygen-producing foliage. John was resting in his cot. Sluggishly moving out of his uncomfortable pod, followed…
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A peaceful death, lying in bed next to his wife of fifty years. He was an old man, and both he and his wife knew that either of them could pass at any moment these days. The two had all their affairs sorted and were just enjoying their final days in peace. Some of the…
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“At least it’ll be quiet here” It was the first warm day of summer. Across the green fields, just south of the town square, boys and girls of all ages were kicking a football around. Each team was trying to get it through the others’ goalpost, where one team was using a log and a…
Nate B Quill 