Cal Carson

“The Land of Rain” by Cal Carson

In The Land of Rain, there was fire.   The inhabitants of Imber hadn’t seen fire in hundreds of years, and yet this was not a night for celebration. Why, you might ask?  It’s a dark tale. ~ ~ ~ It began with a princess, the heir to the crown of Imber.  When she was young, hardly a decade old, she happened across a hare, wallowing in a deep puddle.  The animal was soaked and shivering, its fur matted with blood and dirt.  Its eyes were leaden with exhaustion. The girl pitied it, scooping it out of the puddle...

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“Blue, Green, and Yellow” by Cal Carson

Submitted to Contest #92

Keyley stumbled into the cave, gasping for breath and bleeding from dozens of cuts. He stumbled into the safety of the shadows, knowing he was doomed. The monsters would find him eventually, and there was nothing he could do to fend them off.  The cave was set high in the mountains, a long climb from his riverside village below. It was small and nearly invisible to the passing eye, narrow and covered in brush.  It used to be narrow enough, in fact, that only a very small child could enter. As he groaned in pain and fear, Keyley spe...

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“The Surface of Reality” by Cal Carson

Submitted to Contest #83

The ocean, Ezili discovers, is a metaphor for the world.  On the surface and in the shallows-- gorgeous, brilliant, and glistening.  The type of sea to inspire artists to set up easels in the white sand.  Dive beneath the lapping shores, however, and you find an ugly, dangerous reality.   Beneath the evening sun tinting the sands red, Ezili finishes her breathing exercises and pulls her woven bamboo fins over her feet.  She wades into the shallows of the ocean, making sure she doesn’t ripple or splash the water...

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“The Wonder that Goes Bump in The Night” by Cal Carson

Submitted to Contest #72

You finger the wrinkled note in your hand and scowl.   The sound of its crinkles as you fold it is lost to the rain pattering your car roof.  The sky is filled with white clouds, like a frothing mess of sea foam dragged into the sky.  Sea foam.  You let loose a bitter “ha!”  You can't believe you left your home at the beach for this dump.  Your car screeches to a slow crawl, pulling itself onto the gravel path of the Bleawood Manor.  Not much of a manor anymore, you can see, but a shambled ruin of rotting w...

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“'Till Halloween” by Cal Carson

Submitted to Contest #65

I’d give it ‘till Halloween. The stars are alight, its milky light shining down on us, lighting our paths forward. “Faethylle, pull up!  Get out of the trees!” I ignore her.  Exuberance crowds my mind and each tree that I dodge sends a thrill like a thousand tingling spiders through me.  I weave effortlessly through the rainbow Eucalyptus trees, a thread through their fabric.   “Fae,” Elliot pleads, high above me.  “If you come up here I’ll buy you a box of jelly doughnuts from town!” I laugh, pulling out of the...

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“All Good Things” by Cal Carson

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. Eurus’s breath had blown my orange hair curling into the sky like tongues of hot flame and setting the trees swaying.“It’ll be fine,” Tye lies into my ear. “They haven’t been seen in months, we can go outside.” I brush him off.Lies, they were all lies. Outside wasn’t safe.  He’s telling lies I wanted to hear, but they’re lies nonetheless. I can feel it. The trees are ablaze with red-decked flames, embers shooting off and swirling, purple and orang...

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“Red Ribbon” by Cal Carson

Submitted to Contest #61

Bear swept a meaty paw to move the thin curtain, a young and brilliant hue of sky blue. He pulled out his old toy drawer from behind. Pushed open the wooden lid, adorned with lovingly detailed images of a happy life. A blast of cold air hit Bear’s face and a pale fog seeped out of the chest. It creaked and groaned as it moved. Much like I do, Bear thought. I am old, there is no use denying it any longer. Dozens of toys were piled up inside of the chest, but Bear paid them no heed. He reached only for the one laying limp on the top.The t...

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“The World From Above” by Cal Carson

Submitted to Contest #60

Engineers.  Inventors.  Nomads.  Survivors.  There were many names for those left of humanity, but they called themselves Clingers.   They clung desperately to the last vestiges of hope, of survival, too stubborn to quit.   When the apocalypse had come that fateful day so many years ago and the ground became too dangerous to live on, they rose into the air on their blimps, their planes, anything.  Anything to get away.   They had made an oath that day.  That day they would survive, ...

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“Kin” by Cal Carson

Submitted to Contest #59

Out of all the planets Aitne had seen, Sol was different... Aitne had led a tormented life. Two things were her constant companions- an unbearable, lonely ache, and a curious, tickling pull. A pull to somewhere in this universe. Somewhere in this endless mass of bright pricks in the cosmos. Pull and Ache had accompanied her for many, many years...-Three centuries ago-Aitne woke. She was lying on a flat white stone, in a world filled with a cold sort of beauty. Warm gas clouds swirled in delicate patterns ar...

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“Exitium” by Cal Carson

Submitted to Contest #58

All it wanted was the darkness.   But the light was everywhere in this alien world.  It could sense it, pulsing, beating like a heart.   It would consume the light.  The cruel light that had tainted the pure, cold flames of the night.  And it would take  It crept out of the meteor in which it arrived.  Chatter and screams from the creators of the light echoed in its mind. The Cernunnos snarled, conveying all the rage it felt towards those creators. The rest of the Cernunni crept up behind it, snar...

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“Alywards Are Not Weak” by Cal Carson

Submitted to Contest #57

“The Aylward family is not weak.” Thyme had heard that all her life.  It was drilled into her head, over and over.   The Aylward family is not weak.  Thyme Aylward sat at her oak wood desk in the manor, studying spirit lore.  She yawned.  She had gotten up two hours before dawn to study.  But she didn’t regret it in the slightest.  Aunt Augusta peered over her shoulder, sparing a glance at her curling scripts analyzing and copying her texts.   The nefarious spirits of the Spirit Plane tend to...

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“Pretty Little Lights” by Cal Carson

Submitted to Contest #55

When did the lights first appear? I guess it was about a week ago. I was sitting on the foot of my bed, looking out the window…The night was warm. Too warm. Summer had taken full effect and the leaves were full and green. The pool that day had been in the nineties, and sunburn covered my neck and shoulders from when I went berry-picking. Most of the berries had dried up, anyways.  I had spent all day binging Netflix and now my mind felt like it had fallen off the train of my day and was left behind in ...

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“Let's Get Twisted” by Cal Carson

Submitted to Contest #54

The night was dark and starless.  The wind screamed and pounded against the doors of the pub.  Great grey clouds filled the sky and snow whirled about in thick sheets.  Yet the Golden Goose was crowded and raucous laughter echoed across the walls.  Despite the storm tearing apart the front of the shop, the chattering din never ceased.  It was February the sixteenth, a time of year where people were just getting over Valentine’s Day craze and falling back into the grasp of banality.   But nothing about the s...

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“Another Day at the Park” by Cal Carson

Submitted to Contest #53

Shana stared at the popsicle melting in her hand.The sun was beating down hard and was uncomfortably hot against her neck and arms. Sweat dripped down her armpits and the back of her tank top. It was a creamy strawberry flavor and was a soft champagne shade of pink that reminded her of the pastel shades of the buildings at home. She loved strawberry. But she didn’t want her stepdad getting the satisfaction of watching her enjoy it. So she just sat on the fountain watching it melt in the sweltering heat.  She was...

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“Starshine” by Cal Carson

Submitted to Contest #49

The moon glowed with red tendrils of soupy light.  Wind purred as it slunk around their feet and shyly tousled the flaps of their jackets.  The two tall figures sat on a park bench in the midst of a forest trail, alone in the cackling din of the ravens nesting in the oak and maple trees.   “How much longer, Elize?”  The younger whispered to his companion.  His voice was hoarse and papery, like something had crushed his vocal cords underfoot like a tin can.  He wore a long coat the color of sand and a baseba...

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