Alexander Katz

“Close Enough” by Alexander Katz

NOTE: I actually wrote this for a previous prompt but forgot to post it *shrugs* Pain.  Biting cold pain shot down Mervin’s brittle back, making his sphincter pucker up like a plum. The rake in his hand dropped to the street with a limp thud as a pile of leaves cushioned its fall. Mervin felt the sweat coming before it dripped from his pores, or more so, knew it would come. Anytime his back acted up, he’d be drenched in sweat before the pain subsided. If Carol were still around, she’d scold him for not hiring one of the neighbor’s ...

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“The Dread” by Alexander Katz

They come when the suns die.  It happens every night, and all the others hide and close their eyes, praying to the Gods that deserted them to The Dread. Lunden never prayed to those liars. He cursed them while the others begged for salvation. Lunden hoped beyond hope that wherever those Gods fled to, it was worse than here. Then this dungeon of cowards. But Lunden had a sneaking feeling that there was nowhere worse than the Karvar’s Cradle in all the cosmos. Named after Karvar the Father, king of the gods, and thus the king of the cra...

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“Number Nine” by Alexander Katz

Submitted to Contest #102

“How many times will curiosity kill the cat before the cat stops being curious?” The old man asked. Wrinkled skin dripped down his face, webbed and dry. Age spots grew like mold on his cheeks, chin, and forehead. They seemed to grow larger as I stared at him, transfixed. Unable to avert my gaze. It wasn’t fear that held my eyes but curiosity. Yes, he had hit the nail on the head. The hammer was blunt. “Nine, I suppose,” I replied, my voice crackling through the speaker system of my helmet. “Nine, heh,” The old man laughed. A w...

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“Behind the Looking-Glass” by Alexander Katz

Submitted to Contest #101

“I am a mirror.”  The doctor crossed her legs and scribbled something down onto a worn, leather notepad. Brows scrunched together for a moment, wrinkling into the shape of a frown on her forehead. I’d been seeing her for a few weeks now, but this was the first time I was taking it seriously. The way she scribbled with that pen made me think the doc was on the same page. Honest words, candid words, have a particularly sour taste when they leave your lips. Why? I haven’t the faintest idea, but perhaps the taste is just something foreign...

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“Sun Poisoning ” by Alexander Katz

Submitted to Contest #99

(Author note: the following is potentially disturbing.)“The sun is stuck in the sky.”The anchor for channel 4 said it with a hysterical chuckle through the screen. The man’s hair a shaggy mess of brown reeds, dropping down to a five-o’clock shadow that was getting closer to midnight. Dread sat atop each word he uttered, riding them through the airwaves and into the ears of every single person tunning in. Including the family of three currently tied to the chairs of their kitchen table. Everyone except for The Burnt Man, who stood on top of t...

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“Don't Look Back” by Alexander Katz

Submitted to Contest #97

Don’t look. Nothing else was written on the note Jesse found taped to the shuttered window in his attic. The window itself was hidden behind a series of crooked planks that had been nailed to the wall with the carpentry skill of a toddler. The note was a mess of scribbles so chaotic, that it took a solid ten minutes before Jesse could decipher the cryptic warning. It is a warning, isn’t it? He took a step back from the window. The wood panels on the floor creaked as if they were confirming his suspicions with a language of their own. Je...

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“Dead Strings ” by Alexander Katz

Submitted to Contest #96

(Author note: contains violence and NSFW language.) “Shhhh.”  A hand wrapped around my mouth, stopping my squeak in its track. You’d think after five years I’d know better. Know not to be afraid. To bite my tongue and keep my calm. But fear’s a tough bitch to shake, a real leach if you ask me. Once it gets its teeth in you, it ain’t looking to let go. And it don’t matter how many times I’ve seen ‘em staggering about with those milky white eyes dripping black, sludge tears; the sight them will haunt me till the end, I suppose. It’d...

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“Welcome to The Wrinkle ” by Alexander Katz

Submitted to Contest #96

(Author note: Contains violence.)“Anger is like bamboo. If it takes root, soon that’s all your garden will grow.” -Proverbs of The Forgotten. Tired. Stub was damned near to the point of exhaustion when he stumbled upon The Wrinkle. A small town that made other small towns look like the capital of Uto that was said to scrape the heavens. Stub knew that was some horse shit; Uto had tall buildings alright, but only a few out of thousands. They were the old ones, left behind by The Forgotten after they were, well, forgotten. The big br...

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“The Bridge” by Alexander Katz

Submitted to Contest #95

“There are two doors, always two. The one you know, and the one you don’t. I chose to open the latter, as much as it chose me.” -[Name Redacted], 1st volunteer, The Bridge Expedition, recovered tapes.  A declaration. When the wormhole first appeared between earth and the moon’s orbit, the world’s greatest minds came together to debate its purpose. The pessimists warned of an invasion; this was just the first move by an advanced race to pillage our world for its resources. After all, Hawking himself postulated as much when...

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“The Gravedigger's Promise” by Alexander Katz

Submitted to Contest #80

*This is based on a true story, as it was told to me by my great uncle Eddie. It's not pleasant, but he'd be happy to know it's being told.* Eddie Weinstein wiped the sweat from his palms on the back of his pants. His heart pounded as if it wanted nothing more than to burst forth from within his chest, sprout legs, and make a dash for the woods. God, I’m not ready for this, Eddie thought, but who could be ready for such a thing?  Not being ready—not being able to predict the future—that’s what led to this day, after all. No, Edd...

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“The Plains of Namar-Sin” by Alexander Katz

Submitted to Contest #70

I did not mean to open the gate, but alas, it is too late for my misgivings. The thing is open. I alone stand at the precipice between our world and the Plains of Naram-Sin, a land of writhing darkness and many eyes. Long have the Plains waited at the doorway, never moving from the warded pillars made from bones of a creature so ancient, I shudder when pondering its flesh form. If there is a divine plan from a benevolent creator—as I spent the Sundays of my youth learning—these creatures indeed could not have been part of the script. No, I f...

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“WTF” by Alexander Katz

Submitted to Contest #66

The WTF—World Twister Finals—is held every ten years, and never in the same place. Now hidden within Omaha, Nebraska's dark dredges, this year’s WTF competition is perhaps the most anticipated since the 1976 Castle Classic. Rodrick “Rocky” Wilson stood in the alley next to an inconspicuous door, a smile plastered across his face. The door looked like any other in the alleyway, except for the four circles of red, green, blue, and yellow freshly painted above it—the WTF crest. Rocky brushed his fingers across the circles, feeling the nerves in...

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“The Hanged” by Alexander Katz

Submitted to Contest #65

Three bodies dangled outside the cave entrance–someone had bound their feet with a barbed rope and hung them upside down. Blood had once streamed from the wounds left by the barbs, but those rivers dried up a long time ago. Only husks of leather and bone remained, controlled by the whims of the wind. Porg shuddered every time the bodies collided with another. Cries rattled out from their gaping mouths as if something still lived within. He turned his back to the lost souls and gingerly took a seat next to the remnants of a fire. His ankle wa...

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“Autopilot ” by Alexander Katz

Submitted to Contest #62

“Fucking hell.” I grab my head as it begins to split open like a coconut after a couple of blows from a good, sharp rock. That’s how I describe the feeling tomorrow when I visit the doctor. He is just as confused as I am. Or he will be, at least.   “What’s wrong, mate?” I hear the question but Lance’s mouth doesn’t move. He looks over at me with eyes glossy and red, shining out dimly through the smoky haze. I keep staring at him, waiting for the inevitable. Finally, his mouth starts to move.  “What’s wrong,...

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