Alex Kamczyc

“All Those Far-Off Places” by Alex Kamczyc

Submitted to Contest #288

Note: this story contains themes of mental health issues, suicide and toxic masculinity. Alex didn’t understand why he was crying. He did, however, understand that he hated himself for it.He was alone in his car. The soft hum of its engine and the music barely drowned out his attempts at choking down the pain he could not articulate. His eyes stung with salty moisture that threatened to abandon ship every time his car hit the uneven pavement of Interstate I-76 West too hard. His ears, afflicted with tinnitus, hissed like dead air, scrambling...

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“Slightly Charred” by Alex Kamczyc

Submitted to Contest #276

To the broke, unmotivated and hopeless college kid with no job, something like cooking your own meal can be trivial. On a good week, you’d get anywhere between 30 and 50 bucks that you’d need to stretch for the whole month. You could spend that on chicken, fresh veggies and pasta. Of course, Taco Bell is right down the street and a box of ramen is a buck fifty - which means you can buy a few cases of beer on the weekends if you need to. This was my life at Kent State University in gloomy Kent, Ohio, and aside from studying journalism and wri...

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“St. Elsewhere” by Alex Kamczyc

Submitted to Contest #227

The pearl white snow seemed to swirl around the man in black like water going down a drain.  Despite the fact it was near zero degrees, he sat there motionless on the bridge’s rail, overlooking the icy river below.  A shiver ran down my spine and I couldn’t decide whether it was the cold air that bit like a starved dog or the black void that seemed not to care about anything. Without thinking, I began walking to him. I didn’t understand why he was so alluring, but I had a gut feeling something bad was going to happen. Being a d...

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“The Donut Problem” by Alex Kamczyc

Submitted to Contest #190

Ricardo did not fit in the harness. Like, he really didn’t fit in the harness.  “I thought I told you to cut the donuts out of your morning routine,” Julian said, fighting to keep the anxiety and frustration from poking their ugly heads out.  “I did Mr. Julian.” “Like hell you did. This whole ending doesn’t work if my Willy Loman can’t fit into the harness.” Julian could hear his voice echo on the large stage housed in Allen Theater, the main performance space located in Playhouse Square in Cleveland. Julian turned his back...

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“The Sun Sets in Cuyahoga” by Alex Kamczyc

Submitted to Contest #99

It felt like someone had piled a ton of loose stones on my chest. Struggling to catch my breath, the only thing distracting me from the pain shooting up and down my body was the sun setting over Cuyahoga County. Though it was short, the trek up the hill that Baker Homestead Apartments was located on was steep and torturous on the legs.  I wanted to sit one last time at the fire pit on top of the hill before I went away. Today’s sunset seemed different. There was a warmth radiating from the yellow and pink mass as it gently kissed the ...

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“In Doldrums” by Alex Kamczyc

Submitted to Contest #86

“I swear to god these are Virginia bluebells, Carter,” Fiona said to her friend as she wiped cigarette smoke from her tear ducts. Taking another drag, she kicked one of the drooping blue flowers gently so it flopped the other way. The first signs of spring in Ohio were always the prettiest. Fiona winced as the morning sun hit her directly in the face. In hindsight, she probably should have dressed better for the occasion. Dressed in worn light blue jeans, black Chuck Taylors, and a black button-down shirt, she faced at least a three-mile h...

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“The Bard's Tale” by Alex Kamczyc

The Red Knight gazed… STOPThe Red Knight prepared for his final battle against CALAMITY….STOPWho the fuck am I kidding… I can’t write anything worth a damn in these circumstances. I can’t focus anymore. The cotton in my ears feels like they’ve burned holes into my skull so deep that a surgeon wouldn’t be able to remove them. Not to mention that I’ve barely eaten for the last two weeks since we hit nearly the end of our rations.I haven’t seen the sunlight, except through the tiny crevices of the cicada’s bodies, since… Jesus Christ...days? mo...

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“Something Weird Happened on Vacation” by Alex Kamczyc

Submitted to Contest #83

Something Weird Happened on Vacation Of all the shitass places he could be sick, a hotel in Idaho was last on his list. Kayce looked around his bedroom for what felt like the millionth time and took inventory of his temporary prison. The walls were taupe, the floors were a beige carpet and the ceiling was a nondescript popcorn ceiling. To his right, a big window opened up to the most beautiful views of Ketchum, Idaho he’d ever seen. That alone was almost enough to make up for his confines. He loathed the idea of not being able to walk ...

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“Electric Buffalo” by Alex Kamczyc

Submitted to Contest #82

My former master once told me that America was built on painful choices.Sometimes this pain was physical, sometimes it was emotional, and on special occasions, it was both. His name was Adam, and as a history professor at The Ohio State University, he believed it always has been, and always will be this way. My exact purpose on this earth was simple, I would help him research subjects for his various lectures and books he was working on. Recently, he was working on a book about the Native American Tribes that once roamed this land befor...

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“Ophelia” by Alex Kamczyc

Submitted to Contest #81

I could have sworn Jason Voorhees was stalking me. I’m serious. For the past four nights, while I worked on my final exam, all I could hear was the chih chih chih ca ca ca he made before killing his victims. I guess if I ever did run into him, I would try and spark a conversation with him and talk him out of killing me. A lot of people would run and hide from him, but not only am I superbly out of shape, I kind of think he’s misunderstood in a way. Who knows? I've watched those movies a million times when I was younger, and no ...

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