K. M. Carpenter

“Two Sides” by K. M. Carpenter

Submitted to Contest #76

"They've caught him."  "I can't believe it- he's caught."  "The one whose been wrecking all this havoc, raiding our vessels, stealing shipments of food and medicine- they've captured him."  "He's real dangerous; he's been evading us since the day this war started. It's as if he's a ghost, there one moment, completely gone the next. But this time, our men out-tricked the trickster. This time, we've got him." The murmured words, hissed through excited teeth, crowded Thomas' ears as he made his way down the corridor. The...

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“Liars-In-Waiting” by K. M. Carpenter

Submitted to Contest #67

 The marketplace is bustling when I enter, leaving the damp alley behind. It is my central source of transportation; though grimy, the alley provides solitude found nowhere else in Dystran. As advertised by any bard or traveler, Dystran is our kingdom's "shining jewel." Whoever came up with the slogan must not have spent much time in the city. Dystran is as shining as a pig pen is fragrant. It's harvesting season, and the market shows it. Around me, farmers lug in their haul. Colorful booths are arranged, splotches of color amongst the...

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“Before All This” by K. M. Carpenter

Submitted to Contest #60

Edan screamed, his back arching against the dusty wall of the old subway tunnel. His vision blurred as the cloth was pressed to his abdomen, as the medicine mingled with his overflowing blood. Heat raced along his spine, only for a wave of ice to follow.  Another shriek pressed at the base of his throat, one he couldn't hold in. It echoed down the damp tunnel, so loud some subconscious part of his brain instantly regretted it. Wished he hadn't screamed, wished he'd held it in, for fear someone would hear and their position would be comp...

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“Gallery of Memories” by K. M. Carpenter

Submitted to Contest #56

Trigger warning: self-harm     You act as if you don't remember me, yet I know you do. How could you forget? How could either of us forget? Sometimes, I wake up in the night, clawing at my skin. Feeling the water droplets balance on my fingertips. Watching the bubbles float around me, crystalline, twirling in a graceful dance, beautiful given any other circumstance. Of course, you don't know that. But you know me, and I know you, so why aren't you saying anything? Is it the guilt? I wish it was the guilt that stilled my t...

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“The Candidate ” by K. M. Carpenter

Submitted to Contest #52

She used to spend hours gazing up at the stars, my Mama. I gazed up at them with her. My small body pressed into hers, the two of us gawking at the tiny, twinkling orbs overhead. Faint music coming from the radio, long-since rescued from the junkyard and put to good use again, wafting around us. In those moments, it was just me and her. Against the bills piling up on the table in the rickety wooden house. Against the notice tucked inside my mother's sock drawer, the one I knew, even then, I wasn't supposed to see, but I peeked at it any...

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“The Monsters He Couldn't Outrun” by K. M. Carpenter

Submitted to Contest #50

The doors acted as a barricade against the monsters. Six inches of solid, silver steel that glinted in the bunker's harsh lighting. Seven feet tall, ten feet across. They took up almost an entire wall in the small, square space. Impossible to look away from. To ignore. An ever-constant, ever-pressing reminder of Damen's surroundings. Of his trapped state, alongside the other thirteen who cowered in the dusty crevices of the bunker. Priamos had known of the monsters and had built the small, steel space deep underground. He'd been th...

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“"Dear Satan"...” by K. M. Carpenter

Submitted to Contest #47

 The day is dark when you awake. In complete honesty, it's nothing new, the black smog rolling off your pointed tower turrets. It doesn't surprise you. Neither does the occasional scream as a soul rushes past your cracked bedroom window; the house is just plain stuffy were you to close it.   No, none of this is new to you. Another long, long day in Hell. Yes, that's a capital H. When you're the devil, things get old fast. Really fast.   Like breakfast. Your morning tea boils over, staining the crisp, red su...

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“Am I Losing My Mind?” by K. M. Carpenter

Submitted to Contest #37

I shouldn't have come here. I shouldn't have been as foolish as I was to get into this taxi cab, drive all the way across the city, and come here. Yet I did. I thought perhaps it was only my imagination, seeing that face amidst hundreds of others. I thought that perhaps it was an illusion of some kind, a sadistic trick.  I thought, just maybe, it was a sign I needed to get out. Grab a drink or two. Or three.  Am I losing my mind? Their face is everywhere. I don't know them. I thought perhaps they knew me. But those violet eyes, tha...

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“Disconnected Connection” by K. M. Carpenter

The house is dark, but her room is darker. The blinds are drawn tightly closed. The many lights that once lit her room in a cheery glow switched off. The door closed, shirts and towels stuffed under the cracks to swallow any sliver of light that might try to creep through. She won't let it. She will suffocate it.  The light is not allowed. Neither is the happiness. She does not know how long she has been there. She does not care. Until the phone begins to ring.  It shouldn't, she disconnected the lines. Disconnected the reach to th...

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“The Crap That Will Never Happen” by K. M. Carpenter

Submitted to Contest #28

The Crap That Will Never Happen #1: Any of these delusional fantasies will ever come true. The Crap That Will Never Happen #2: You will find out about any of these delusional fantasies.The Crap That Will Never Happen #3: You don't know me. We pass, walking on the sidewalk of a busy street. You see my shirt. You say, "Cool shirt. I like Fall Out Boy, too." That's it. That's all. The Crap That Will Never Happen #6: I finally get up the courage to talk to you. I ask for your number. The Crap That Will Never Happen #7: You give it...

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“Don't Wish For A Heart” by K. M. Carpenter

Submitted to Contest #16

 His eyes were cold and lifeless as he stared at her, as dark as a starless night. "You have no idea who I am, do you?" The lamp slipped off the table, shattering against the stone floor, but neither noticed. She clenched her jaw, tasting blood as her teeth ripped into the inner flesh of her mouth. "Not anymore." Backed against the wall, she slowly reached into her jacket pocket where the comforting handle of a knife slipped into her palm.  "It's been three years!" he screamed, his hot breath stinging her face as he drug ...

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“Secrets of the Assassin ” by K. M. Carpenter

Submitted to Contest #15

It was all he could do to hold in his bark of laughter, leaning against the walls of the fortress, gripping his sides in a struggle to suppress his mirth. Yti quirked an eyebrow, his countenance not reflecting the same level of joyous amusement Wren's did.  "Is this entertaining to you?" he demanded, pursing his lips, his dark brows creasing with the words.  Slapping his knee, what giggles Wren had managed to hide flooded out, echoing through the dark marble halls. "No," he spluttered, straightening at the stern look Yti ...

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“Unbroken Promises” by K. M. Carpenter

Submitted to Contest #14

The walls of the shabby apartment shook with her sobs, but he knew he had no right to cross the creaky floorboards and comfort her. Her hands pressed against her swollen belly as she stumbled to lean against the paint peeling off the wall. He didn't make a move to steady her.   "How could you?" It wasn't the first time that hour she had shrieked the words, but it was the first time he found the strength to answer.   The remains of his phone, broken against the wall by her hand, coated the sparse carpet between them. A bar...

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