Category: Stories
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The Keeper
They would come for him as soon as he closed his eyes. They always did. So the answer was as simple as it was impossible: don’t close your eyes. And don’t ever sleep. George gazed at the horizon, at the exact point where the sky fell into the arms of the sea, and he could…
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Getting Lucky
Play the hand you’re dealt, the saying went, but George Vale never put much stock in that. Fate had dealt him an awful hand, and he didn’t have a play to make, never had. Scrawny, with bland, unattractive features, he’d been ignored by his father, bullied at school, and pushed aside by the go-getters in…
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Daddy’s Little Bird
The exterior security gate slid shut behind me with its usual finality. I paused between the fences, noticing a hawk circling overhead, its presence serving as an unwanted and grim reminder. Deep within the high-security establishment, locked away, I imagined her head slightly tilted, watching, much like that predatory bird above me. The memory still…
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Of Pigeons and Men
Jess rolled another piece of bread into a hard pellet, placed it between thumb and forefinger and took aim. The shot was accurate and the startled pigeons sudden panic sent the whole flock into the air. Moments later, they returned to eating the crumbs as if nothing had happened. “Stupid birds,” she said under her breath as she prepared another pellet. “Why do you torment them?” She shrugged…
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A Thin Line
Pierce watched the shards of colour knife over the surface of the table as he pushed and prodded his glass through puddles of spilt beer. The prismatic hues at odds with the cracked varnish and beer-stained wood. Light and dark. Two sides of a coin. A chance meeting. Fate. Bollocks. “Hi, Pierce, thought I’d find…
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Richard Tomey
Pleasure and pain became polarizing points of light in Richard Tomey’s darkness. With nothing else to do, he focused upon them, concentrating his mind on those soft touches, the slaps and the punches; they illuminated his life as much as the voices. And those voices were everywhere. “Why bother locking the door Tony, he ain’t…
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Testament
“Good afternoon, detective,” the uniformed deputy greeted her at the door of the old Victorian manse. “My name’s Joshua Corey. You made good time.” “Lieutenant Joann Walker. I was already up in Pine Valley on another matter,” she replied. “What do we have here?” The uniform led her into the foyer of the elegant old…
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Our Authors
It’s no secret that Threads that Bind is a coalition of authors and artists created to discuss and expound on the dark and chilling story. It should come as no surprise, then, that many of our talented writers have offered short stories for the entertainment of our readers. Today we are inaugurating a new feature…
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Sea Story
This is from an anthology titled Southern Steam, a project of a steampunk writer’s group called Scribblers’ Den, and takes place, as all the stories do, in Port Reprieve, a fictional city on the southeast shore of Mobile Bay. I share this here as a sample of my own writing, but also to serve as…
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CORA’S TREE
Since Halloween is coming (ready or not!) and I’m busy with a real project and a so-far imaginary one (more on that later if it pans out), I thought I’d show y’all a slightly abridged version of one of the Storm Ketchum Tales I wrote (as Garrett Dennis). The Tales are short stories and novellas…
Threads that Bind 