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  Kenneth Lawson
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March 28th, 2021

3/28/2021

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A chill coursed along my spine as I entered the village as if I had traveled through time. Which I had and now, the world from several eons ago surrounded me. The sound of wind whistling through the old buildings made me jumpy. I knew I was alone, but I had the feeling something hid in the dark, watching me.

I saw no signs of life, and likely there had been none for eons. Ancient growth remnants of vines and lichens’ long-dead covered the crumbling stone buildings. A scurrying sound came from behind me, and I turned in time to see the tip of a tale disappear behind a wall.

I wasn’t alone but whatever was here wasn’t of this world. I wasn’t either.



I tried an old door that didn’t want to move, but tugging, it gave with a mighty groan as if it cried leave me alone. Shadows darker than night filled the room and the musty odor of a millennium of decay filled my senses.

“You found me.” She sat in the corner.

“Yes, the homing signal worked perfectly. Let’s get you home.”

Taller than the short ceiling, she bent forward, only standing her full height once outside.
“Did you see anything alive here?”
“Only him.”

She pointed to where I’d seen movement earlier, and what I saw sent chills through me. Blocking our access to the time portal was a giant beast.


“Who are you? Where did you come from??” Its voice thunder and echoing over the remains of the village.

I stepped forward. The beast dwarfed my seven-foot frame but ignored his size and his rancid smell. “I’m here to rescue a crew member. We’re not of this time. ”

The beast hesitated, cocking its head, then in a flash of light, a slender humanoid being with pale skin stood before us.

We stared at each other until the being spoke in a singsong voice. “Then you are marooned here as well.”

He turned towards the time portal, glistening before us.


“This is one-way time portal.”










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March 21st, 2021

3/21/2021

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He hurried toward the train platform and never looked back. The trip ahead of him was unplanned, but then, very few things in life are.

His only luggage was a small carry-on he had quickly packed only a short time ago. He settled into the passenger car and closed his eyes to the rest of the world. His mind wasn’t on the trip ahead but the reason for it. The telegram had said she’d died, but it couldn’t be true. He could still feel her in his bones.

She was alive. They had to be wrong. Maybe she was simply not responsive. She couldn’t be gone. Forever.
NO!!!” echoed in his mind a thousand times.

As much as he tried to fight it, the gentle sway of the train put him to sleep. He knew staying awake for the whole trip would only make him even crazier. However, his sleep wasn’t a peaceful one as bits of the past came back to haunt him—their first kiss, their wedding. Flashes of her walking down the aisle came to him, and he was on the verge of waking up, but the train’s movement lured him into a deeper sleep.

Hours later, the sudden stillness and lack of motion jarred him awake just as the loudspeaker announced their arrival at his destination. He shook his head and tried to force the memories from his mind, but they resisted.

Standing on the platform, he looked lost. He was lost, even more than he looked

“Glad you could come.” He recognized the voice and turned toward the person who spoke.

There she was! She was alive! Then he blinked and realized it was her sister.

He approached her slowly. “Is she…?”

“Yes, she died early this morning. There was nothing anyone could do.”

She pulled him close to her and put her arms around him. Feeling her warm body next to him, he felt safe again.

 He pulled away. “Come, let’s get her buried so that we can get married.”

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March 14th, 2021

3/14/2021

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After he stepped onto the boat, Martin checked his ticket to make sure this was only a three-hour tour. He noted that the name of the ship was the Aphrodite II. 

 He wondered what had happened to Aphrodite I. The plague on the side of the main cabin said the ship entered service in 2020. So it was new, and that gave him a sense of relief. His mind wandered back of memories of another three-hour tour that lasted for three seasons on television. He hoped his luck would much better than that.


The caption’s voice came over the loudspeaker giving the usual safety briefing, and shortly afterward, the engines roared to life. The gentle swell of waves pushing against the stern of the ship as they pulled away from the dock took over his imagination. 

Martin leaned back in the deck chair, closed his eyes, and for the first time in far too long, he relaxed. As the ship eased its way out of the harbor, he began to drift off to sleep.

“You’re missing it.” A female voice woke him from his nap. 

“You’re missing it.” A female voice woke him from his nap.

“Uh, what?” He blinked his and tried to remember where he was. 

“The whale on the port side.” She pointed to the other side of the ship. 

Martin remembered where he was and sat up but didn’t look where she was pointing. The voice belonged to a young lady who was sitting on the lounge chair next to him. Her floppy hat and sunglasses did nothing to hide the rest of her figure.

“Hi, I’m  Martin.” He no longer cared about whales or other sea creatures. The creature in front of him had all of his attention.

“Hi, I’m Anne.” She held her hand out, and he noticed no ring on her left hand.

 They didn’t move the rest of the tour.






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March 07th, 2021

3/7/2021

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Nerves raw, I ignored the old saying, you can’t go home again that rattled in my head and drove into town. It seemed it was never good tidings that brought a person to their roots.

The hotel where the family was meeting looked the same as it did ten years ago. The same faded carpet and the same dull paintings hung on the wall.

Just as I entered the lobby, a voice rang out.
“Danny.”

I turned around to find my uncle. “Daniel. I haven’t been Danny since I was ten”.

He motioned me into the dining room, where the family gathered immediately asked, “What’s the deal with the will?”

It was always about the money.
I shuffled some papers and cleared my throat. “According to Dad’s will, no one inherits the factory or the estate. In the most recent will he made before becoming mentally unstable, he created a foundation, headed by Loraine Crump, his former nurse to manage both.”


I quoted from the paper in my hands.

“Loraine put up with me, cleaned up after me, and showed more grace in her little finger than the rest of you idiots. She stayed up hours reading to me, even after I couldn’t hear her well, but I knew she was there. She dealt with the insurance and the hospitals and went to appointments with me. She has shown that she is more than capable of running this business better than the rest of you. There will be a small grant for most of you, but if you contest the will, you forfeit the grant and all other rights to the estate.” Signed and dated last year, witnessed by two people unrelated to the family or business.”

A sharp cry came from the back of the room. Everyone looked around to see Loraine Crump lying on the floor, blood flowing from a knife embedded in her chest, my uncle next to the body.  

"Now who inherits the dammed money?"









“Now who inherits the damn money?”

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    Picture


    500 Words
      The idea is to write a short story  about 500 max short based on a picture and an opening line.  
    ​From there one can go ANYWHERE..
    ​
    Please note: the images used are free-use images and do not require attribution.

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