coversonyourbed

The Rabbit and The Sparrow [Flash Fiction]

09/08/2022

“I’ll see you when spring comes,” the sparrow spoke, looking to the south.

The rabbit shivered as she looked up at the sparrow. The snow that had fallen that night turned the meadow the same color as her fur. “Don’t watch me leave so you won’t miss me as much,” she remembers the sparrow telling her the previous winter, “And I won’t look back either”. It never worked.

The rabbit coughed.

The sparrow took it for an answer and lifted off the branch.

The rabbit saw red specks on the snow. She wished they were the first flowers of spring.

©coversonyourbed

Word count: 100

Bleeding Salt from War Wounds [Flash Fiction]

11/12/2021

The celestial drifted in and out of consciousness as the blast from their planet threw them into the darkness of space. The war for their home was lost and nothing but the unseen forces of the universe had plans for the sleeping body sailing across the ever-expanding sea of stars.

The celestial was headed for a young earth – an earth before the green was born. They opened their eyes as they entered the atmosphere and took one last look at where their corpse will be rested. On a brown, barren shore they landed and bled salt through their war wounds.

Word Count: 100

I wrote this to raise awareness for #TeamSeas. #TeamSeas is a campaign led by Mark Rober and MrBeast to raise money to remove plastic and trash from our ocean, beaches, and rivers. Please help however you can! You can learn more by visiting #TeamSeas.

Next Time, I Get to be You [Short Story]

10/30/2021

“So, Gibson,” I start as we enter the front door, “did you have fun tonight?” The little caped crusader ignores me and runs to empty his candy bucket on the living room floor. “Hey, Batman,” I ask again, “did you have fun tonight?”

He looks up at me and takes off his mask. “Yeah, Mom! Gibson’s really going to love all the candy I got him.”

“Well tell Gibson not to eat too much before dinner.” I remind him before walking into the kitchen.

At the dinner table, Gibson could barely touch his food. I look over at the pile of half-eaten candy on the living room floor. “Didn’t I tell you not to eat too much candy?”

“It wasn’t me, Mom. It was Jamie.” He, says sleepily.

I stroke his head and give him a kiss, “sure it was, honey. Get ready for bed, I’ll tuck you in.”

I walk into his room and he’s already fallen asleep. As I sit at his bedside to tuck him in, my eyes fall on the picture at his bedside table. A picture of my twins dressed up for Halloween exactly three years ago; Gibson as Finn the Human and Jamie as Jake the Dog.

“Next time, I get to be Finn,” I remember Jamie saying.

It was exactly a month before the homeowners association put up speed bumps in the area because of a horrible drunk driving accident that Halloween.

I look at the empty bed across the room. “Mom,” Gibson whispers, “next year, Jamie wants to go as a pirate.”

Word count: 260

Happy Halloween!

Empty Beaches [Flash Fiction]

05/31/2021

“Have they gone extinct?” she thinks to herself, “that can’t be right.”

Just like last year, she swims up to the beach. And just like last year, it is empty. She rests on the shore and looks out to sea, her lungs new again to the humid, salty breeze. She lifts her hand and peeks at the midday sun through her fingers.

“Have they grown tired of the sea?” she thinks out loud, unaware of the boy now standing just a foot away. Finally, she turns to him, his face covered in a blue cloth, her gills and tail bare.

©coversonyourbed

Word count: 100

Happy Mermay!

Strangers Lost [Short Story]

06/16/2020

Hello, goodbye. The boy had closed the window as she slipped in. The curtains ceased their flapping, ready for the imminent light the sun was about to bring. The room wasn’t much darker when she had first entered but the moon had gone, and the only light source had gone through the window with her. The noise from downstairs was finally out of her head; or maybe, it just stopped. She almost didn’t notice and wondered for how long it had been silent. He stood at the door, waiting for her to exit so he could shut it, at least slightly ajar – the way she found it. I’m leaving. She said almost like a question. Your friends downstairs are, came the reply. She wondered what the word meant and if entailed leaving with them, after all, they were the reason she was there.

That night spent drowning under the moonlight with a strange boy was the most quiet she has had in a long time. She wondered if she would experience the same quiet again, dreading the ending night’s end. Maybe I won’t leave and I’ll stay with this stranger and the moon, she thought. Maybe I won’t, she said again as if a question. Maybe you should. She took a deep breath, savoring the fleeting memory of the comfort she’s had. She stepped toward the door. There’ll be more nights, else there be no tomorrow. But there’ll be no night exactly like this. Her hear broke with every step.

Word count: 250

The probable end to the probable sequel. Read part one? Skip to part two? Or maybe view some awesome art?

Sea You To Sleep [Flash Fiction]

05/30/2020

Sea Witch Sea You T Sleep — Sea You To Sleep

“One more story!”

“I’ve told four already!”

“Please, gran.” She pleads, “I’ll go to sleep right after, I promise.”

“Alright,” I say, sitting on her bed. “One more story then it’s lights out.”

Beside her, a stuffed octopus stuck its head from under the covers. Her eyes brighten and she smiles. In that second – in the longest time, I haven’t seen such an honest smile – I prayed to Poseidon to make time stop so the years would never take my Ursula from me.

“Tell me again, gran,” she starts, “about how you lured an evil biped prince to his death.”

©coversonyourbed

Word count: 100

Happy Mermay!

Strangers Lost Art

05/18/2020

Three years ago, I wrote a short fiction called Strangers Lost and a follow-up about a month after that. I’ve finally gotten around to writing a third part and I’ll be posting it soon. In the meantime here are some art from awesome artist friends inspired by the story,

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by epicpedroman

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by daivyjoneslocker

by gilliantolentinoart

I’ve provided links to their social media so you can view more of their amazing art. Think of them when you need professional artists for your projects. Also, please look forward to the third part of the series. Follow me on WordPress, if you haven’t already, for short fiction and occasional music and literature reviews.

One Night Stand-Off [Flash Fiction]

05/16/2020

The light danced around the smoke from your lips; your skin, the stage; the rain, the beat. The room was cold but I could barely tell with your bare skin against mine. Your eyes held fast – even when you took a drag – on the book you cradled on your knees. Crime fiction. Of the few times I’ve broken the rule of talking about ourselves, I’ve said crime fiction was the most annoying of books. I glance at my page, 162, before closing the book. I bring your hand – my fingers interlaced with yours or yours with mine; I forget who was holding whom – to my lips.

You see that I’ve done reading, “And I thought you were the reader.”

You hang your cigarette on the nightstand and sweep away the hair on my forehead. You close your book, finger between the pages. I stop you, “Keep reading, I’d like to stare some more.”

You lean back on the bedframe and flip open to your page, failing to hide that subtle twitch on your lips. I wish you had closed your book all the way and you wish that I’d break our rule more often but we were never ones for fleeting sentiments.

Word count: 202

I was gone awhile. Hope no one noticed.