Eric D.

“The Day the Cherry Blossoms Fell ” by Eric D.

It was an overcast Saturday morning in the usually sunny city of San Diego on September 22, 1945. Sherry prepared for her early overtime shift doing clerical work in the office. She dressed up in her fitted jacket with peplums, and navy pencil skirt and styled her hair by taming the curls into defined rolls. Her three-year-old baby Clifford whined as she placed him in his booster seat, while Grandpa Ernest produced a thunderous snore in the back of the family's Chevrolet Fleetline.  "Well, Papaw!? Her Grandpa jerked awake. "Hu...

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“Pestilence ” by Eric D.

Submitted to Contest #127

Jonah opened his eyes and found himself driving in a rusted old station wagon in a foreign part of town. As he passed the luscious overgrown trees, and antique wooden houses, he searched for a purpose. Then, something caught his attention, a man shuffled alone towards the long infinite stretch of road. He looked to be in his forties, and the glimmer in his eyes had been sucked out of him, leaving an empty void behind.After smelling oil burning, Jonah noticed an engulfed pickup truck hauling lumber several feet ahead.He pulled over. "Are you ...

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“Quid Pro Quo” by Eric D.

It was Christmas Eve when Lisbeth received a call from Donnie Lewes personal assistant, Amy. She picked up her vibrating phone still groggy from the night before, her breath lingering with a deep musky stench of acrid tobacco smoke and whisky."Amy?""Beth. Where are you?""I'm here at home, everything OK?""Great. I know this is a short notice but, I booked you a flight out of the Sacramento airport at 11:00 AM to meet our charter here in LAX. We need you on that flight, so go in a few hours early if you have to. I'll text you the details right...

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“It Came from the Silence ” by Eric D.

It first appeared in my childhood, I recall its murky presence lurking in the darkness of my bedroom waiting for everyone else to fall asleep. Then it would creep in over my legs and place all its weight on my chest, the feeling of asphyxiation would overcome me. It watched me suffocate while it fed into my dreams like leeches on the skin. Sometimes I felt like the silence gave it power to keep manifesting, it was the only time it tormented me. I used to find comfort in the aluminum blades rotating from my fan or the background noise from a ...

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“Somewhere in Time (Part 2) ” by Eric D.

Submitted to Contest #124

“Take courage, my heart: you have been through worse than this. Be strong, saith my heart; I am a soldier; I have seen worse sights than this.”― Homer, The OdysseyKeya walked into the kitchen of the wealthy high-rise suite to find Rosa absent, instead one of the idols was there squinting at an ugly toad balancing on his hand. He kissed it and rubbed his cheeks against it, calling out its name in a playful tone. "Rosa, such a sweet girl. You missed your oppa, didn't you?"  "You turned my friend into a frog!" shrieked Keya which made...

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“The Big Job” by Eric D.

(CW: Violence, Blood, Profanity)"Well, that was dramatic" I said in a sarcastic tone to Lenny barging in through the emergency rear doors of the high-end Armenian restaurant. He had just pistol whipped the security guard so hard he almost swallowed the cigarette he was smoking. I stood parked in the convertible nearby wearing my surgical face cover, shades and a baseball cap and pretending to speak in the broken Russian I knew. During the pandemic, it had been a lot easier to hide your facial features without drawing too much suspicion, some...

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“Wolf at the Door” by Eric D.

I could hear them through the white fields snarling and salivating to my scent when I finally rushed through to the abandoned building. Wood planks were nailed across the doorway to keep any of the larger animals away.I was covered in mud and stained in the decomposing grass when I finally found the location. For a moment I felt tranquility from the constant running. I hid in the shadows inside until they left, they tried their hardest to find me. I could hear them growling and the mucus from their lips pooling down the sharp edges...

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“Moon over Mexico ” by Eric D.

It was a bright humid day in the early dawn of morning, the sun pierced through the windows of David's 1979 Ford F-150, displaying a fusion of blues and orange cloudy skies. His father Stanley sat on the passenger side resting his elbow outside of the window while his 11-year-old son, Jamie played games on his tablet.They headed to Baja California for a daytrip in search of the winery David had once ventured to with his coworkers. Jamie was as energetic and antsy as a boy his age would be, he turned his whole body around kneeling on the...

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“The Criterion Apocalypse ” by Eric D.

Benji and Molly entered the stairway of the derelict apartment complex known in the town as, "Circuit City" to meet their contact. It was a place popular for media dealings, those uninvolved in the business seldom showed their faces from the depressing rooms they lived in. The rest of the locals dealt with the desperate visitors attempting to buy highly sought-after items from the degenerate merchants selling them at exuberant prices.At night, these buildings became highly susceptible to crime, mostly from the fully-armed collector...

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“Cadence Calls for Monsters” by Eric D.

"Listen close, you pieces of human garbage! You're in the beginning stages of joining this beloved platoon! Organized by yours truly! Our 50th Commander in Chief! And you will not become warriors in my elite company until you pass my training grounds impeccably! Do I make myself clear!?""Aye, Sir!""I will not have any failures in my platoons!""Aye, Sir!""You have 20 seconds to prove me right, starting 18 seconds ago!""Aye, Sir!!""Any of you caught moving like pond water! We will all take turns stomping the bad habits out of you!""Aye, Sir!""...

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“Illusions of An Idealized Empire ” by Eric D.

(CW: Violence, Bodily Harm, Suggestive Themes, Offensive Material)The largest underground mining project was located several kilometers from the southernmost city in South America. It was a commission by the Greater German Reich in power in 1945 and completed in just four excruciating years of intensive labor. Many sacrificed their lives to uphold an existence obscured from the rest of the world's peripherals.While the German armies had been decommissioned back in Europe, and the war efforts had concluded, President Truman and his peers soug...

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“Birds of a Feather ” by Eric D.

Where's my cigar?" said Bonzo, the alpha male chimpanzee with his exceptionally large domineering appearance. "Bonzo needs his cigars!", he howled with an irritated tone in his voice and pounded lightly on his chest to further emphasize his displeasure. The other chimps in the exhibit didn't dare to approach him during these commonly occurring tantrums.   Bonzo was a pampered chimp who had gotten use to receiving everything he wanted. He had hastily knuckle-walked towards the cool shade under the big tree nearby. He chomped on...

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“The Universe is Indifferent” by Eric D.

“Did you know in Iceland there was a woman on a tour bus presumed missing who later joined her own search party for several hours?” Anais snorted and cackled as she scrolled through funny blog posts on her phone while laying down in her pajamas and oversized shirt.     A shirtless Jorge laid on the bed besides her crossing his arms behind his head. He folded his shirt and tossed it on a chair across the room. “You’re kidding me”. He leaned against the bed frame and flipped through the channels on the TV remote, searching for...

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“The Heat Between the Clouds” by Eric D.

Submitted to Contest #116

Marina laid the large wicker basket of her hot-air balloon sideways as she held open the edges of her envelope bag with wide-open arms. The inflator fan began to gradually expand the red and yellow striped-bag with cold air while her mother prepared the burners and made sure Marina had packed everything she needed for her long journey East. Her nephew helped load the propane tanks and strapped them in on each corner to achieve the equilibrium she needed to steer safely. Marina carried in the ballasts and other necessities, she paused while p...

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“There's No Future in Reno” by Eric D.

(CW: Drugs, Profanity)They were the last few text messages I read before heading out to Reno in hopes of resetting my thoughts. Me and Brenda had ended it after six long years together. I often thought we'd end up settling down, but things didn't line up exactly how I planned them to."I worry that I wasted the best of me on you, Marcus""I'm beginning to think you never cared..."I sat in an empty area of the terminal staring off at the transparent walls watching the planes taxiing and hoping they would eventually lead me to salvation in anoth...

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