Short Story Archives - Page 3 of 5 - James Kirst Short Story and Novel Blog

Short Story Saturday: This Night Did Not Go As Planned

Posted on July 6, 2019December 3, 2023 by jkirst

Hello everyone! As part of Short Story Saturday, I have posted another short story, this one entitled This Night Did Not Go As Planned. Please enjoy.

The young man flushed the toilet. Normally an innocuous and mundane action but tonight it was the denouement of a night filled with terror.

It started innocently enough. Greg fiddled around with an object in his pocket as he sat on his girlfriend’s couch. He had never visited before. All their interactions had either been at his small studio apartment or in public and he was certainly surprised to learn that she lived in a mansion.

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Short Story Saturday: Red Roses and Russian Roulette

Posted on June 29, 2019December 3, 2023 by jkirst

Hello everyone! As part of Short Story Saturday, I have posted another short story, this one entitled Red Roses and Russian Roulette. Please enjoy.

She found herself trapped in a room devoid of any portal to the outside world. Each of the featureless walls loomed above into darkness and felt somehow as if they were closing in. A distinct odor wafted through the air. The smell of roses. It reminded her of melancholy and despair. Her eyes darted in all directions but was having trouble seeing. No illumination was offered save for the lone light bulb hanging dead center in the room. It swung on its own as if it were swaying in the wind despite there being no breeze. Eventually, though difficult to see, she saw the table lying in the middle of the room being flanked on opposite sides by two wooden chairs. Someone was sitting in one of them.

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Short Story Saturday: A Cabin in Winter

Posted on May 11, 2019December 3, 2023 by jkirst

Hello everyone! As part of Short Story Saturday, I have posted another short story, this one entitled A Cabin in Winter. Please enjoy.

It is the dead of winter. Snow descends slowly and the bitter cold can be felt even through the man’s many layers of furs. His head feels frozen despite the raccoon skin hat covering it. The thermal mask he scavenged from one of a multitude of putrefying bonds that litter the mountain trail does little to keep him warm as well. In his hands is a giant ax. On his back are a rifle and a rucksack.

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Short Story Saturday: My Spiritual Codependence

Posted on May 4, 2019December 3, 2023 by jkirst

Hello everyone! As part of Short Story Saturday, I have posted another short story, this one entitled My Spiritual Codependence. Please enjoy.

She appears to me at the most inopportune moments. When I’m at the gym, when I’m driving, when I’m at work, even when I’m in the throes of passion with a woman. She doesn’t care. She’ll appear out of nowhere to interrupt whatever it is I am doing to tell me what is on her mind.

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Short Story Saturday: It’s a Doggie Dog World

Posted on April 27, 2019December 3, 2023 by jkirst

Hello everyone! As part of Short Story Saturday, I have posted another short story, this one entitled It’s a Doggie Dog World. I apologize for the short length. Please enjoy.

Short Story Saturday: It's a Doggie Dog World - Photo by Adobe Stock — Photo by Pixabay from Pexels

The muffle flashed. The bullet went through her left shoulder narrowly missing bone.

She fell to the floor in pain. Slipping in her blood as she reached for the handle of the oven to lift herself to her feet, the woman took a look at the face of her would-be assassin. Her heart sank.

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Short Story Saturday: An Artist’s Passion

Posted on April 20, 2019December 3, 2023 by jkirst

Hello everyone! As part of Short Story Saturday, I have posted another short story, this one entitled An Artist’s Passion. Please enjoy.

“You don’t understand, Dad, art is my life!” the son screamed.

“I understand more about life than you’ll ever know!” was his father’s retort.

A chair flew across the kitchen floor as the son rose abruptly from the kitchen table. He ignored the yells of his father and the pleading cries of his mother as he stormed into his room. This was the aftermath of yet another argument between the father and son over the boy’s grades.

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Short Story Saturday: Please Call Me Daddy

Posted on April 13, 2019December 3, 2023 by jkirst

Hello everyone! As part of Short Story Saturday, I have posted another short story, this one entitled Please Call Me Daddy. Please enjoy.

“Looking for a good time?” He wasn’t really. All he wanted to do was rest his head for the night. When he booked the hotel room online, he knew he wasn’t making reservations at a four-star resort. The myriad of reviews that gave it one star made that quite clear. However, he still didn’t expect to hear those clichéd words or encounter someone like her during his vacation. This certainly wasn’t part of the brochure, the man thought to himself. He supposed it was one of the unadvertised surprise perks.

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Short Story Saturday: The Tower

Posted on April 6, 2019December 3, 2023 by jkirst

Hello everyone! As part of Short Story Saturday, I have posted another short story, this one entitled The Tower. Please enjoy.

A pair of adventurers approached an oblong, white-bricked tower. The two had journeyed from afar and had overcome many perils to arrive that day. What Arthur sought awaited him at the top of the tower. Dangling around his neck was the most valuable thing in the world to him, a silver locket given to him by his queen. He looked over to his wizard friend and heaved a deep sigh. Initially, he did not wish to anyone along on this journey. The man acquiesced, though, when Merlin told him that entrance into the tower was impossible without his assistance.

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Short Story Saturday: The Price of Victory

Posted on March 23, 2019December 3, 2023 by jkirst

Hello everyone! As part of Short Story Saturday, I have posted another short story, this one entitled The Price of Victory. Loosely inspired by this prompt: https://www.writersdigest.com/prompts/soccer-threat. Please enjoy.

It was an insult. A travesty. An outrage. To do such a thing to the world’s greatest goalkeeper, Juan Carlos Gabriel Martinez was unforgivable. They were bluffing. They must have been. The very gall, the very cheek of merely threatening to conduct such a heinous crime against an unparalleled star was a slap in the face. To actually go through with it was inconceivable.

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Short Story Saturday: The Leggy Mistress of The Waterfall

Posted on March 16, 2019December 3, 2023 by jkirst

Hello everyone! As part of Short Story Saturday, I have posted another short story, this one entitled The Leggy Mistress of the Waterfall. Please enjoy.

He didn’t go there looking for love. Rather, he was only there for a stiff drink after a hard day’s work at the Northwest Logging Company. The Waterfall Bar wasn’t even his usual haunt. Never before had he been somewhere that emanated refinement and class. Firefly lights practically danced from above brightening the otherwise dark, smoky atmosphere reminiscent of a cigar lounge. Fittingly, classical music wafted in the air setting an almost melancholy yet comfortable mood. It was certainly a far cry from what demarcated his typical drinking establishment with its flickering fluorescent lights and heavy metal and rap blaring oppressively. At least, that was the kind of music that typically played until he and his friends arrived.

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