L.B Rinker

“Bloodclot Eyes” by L.B Rinker

Dr. Natalia Hughes-Anderson, her husband, James Anderson-Hughes, and their twin teenage daughters, Nicky, and Nash, sit around a round stone table just big enough to accommodate the four of them comfortably. The chandelier above them flickers, and creaks as it sways ever so slightly despite the absence of any breeze.  Iguana-skinned men, goblin-esque in physique, and stature run back and forth to the “kitchen”. They drape over the table a silken, violet cloth, and adorn it with eloquent, crystalline utensils… golden goblets, and bottl...

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“Kindred Minds” by L.B Rinker

Submitted to Contest #223

Kindred minds tend to slow down time, and make the hours pass like days… but what if I want the day to end? What if his recurrent parroting of my own pessimistic views was entrenching my consciousness in darkness… would I ever see the light again? Could I ever recognize a love that wasn’t his? Or would we be trapped together… in a deep black mine the depths of which would become inescapable….One day, years from now, when we’d say our vows, would the words be empty? And would there be anyone there to hear them, or would we have turned our bac...

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“Death Be a Lady Tonight” by L.B Rinker

Submitted to Contest #222

      Evil sought after Jacob's soul like it was some long-lost treasure,  sunken to the bottom of the ocean…. And despite every shark, pirate, storm, or wave, Evil pressed on… stuck to Jacob like a leech.       Sometimes he thought she lived in his head… in the vast, empty space between his consciousness, and his memories… right there in the sweet spot….       Her voice sounded so close when she spoke to him, like she was right over his shoulder, ...

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“Waiting On a One-Word Song” by L.B Rinker

Submitted to Contest #203

Waves of pain were still radiating down my thigh to my toes. The pills they gave me helped a little, but it’s not like I could just ignore the fact that my leg had practically broken in half just a few hours earlier. I was just driving around the country, aimless, finding work where I could, and one day I decided I was going to be a roofer… that same day I slid off of a two story. I couldn’t even remember what town I was in, but I laid there in that hospital bed, waiting for the nurse to come back like she said she would. I had told her bef...

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“Four Door Prison” by L.B Rinker

Submitted to Contest #189

It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. Elizabeth was trembling so badly that she felt like a phone set to vibrate. She breathed deep, hot breathes underneath her winter coat in the hopes that it would be enough to keep her from catching hypothermia. The snot frozen to her cheeks wasn't a good sign. The doors to her Honda Accord had frozen shut days ago as she sat stuck on the side of the highway. "I should have left when I had the chance…." She whimpered angrily to herself. Her's wasn't the only car tra...

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“The Library” by L.B Rinker

It was a long walk to the library that night, eighteen grueling blocks, and I was starting to go through withdrawals (I hadn’t used magic in hours), but thanks to a simple animation spell I’d learned from page 78 of “Expert Charms for Beginners” my bag walked itself on the ground behind me, saving my back from the ten pounds of books I was returning. The illusion I cast on it was a little difficult, but I made it work. As far as anyone was concerned I was being trailed by a black and white kitten named Kiki. It was some of my best work with ...

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“The Critique ” by L.B Rinker

Submitted to Contest #141

    It was tart, the kind of tart that puckered your lips and wrinkled your nose. It was sweet too I suppose, but it was one Splenda packet in your morning coffee sweet, not enough to balance out the sour citrus notes of the lemon.. but it was ripe with pulp, something I always enjoyed, it showed that it was organic, and some work had been put in to prepare it. That was the first sip, gurgling in the back of my throat as I searched my mind for other ways to describe what I was tasting.      I spit...

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“The Silence and the Sea” by L.B Rinker

Submitted to Contest #119

    It wasn’t the dozens of seagulls on my deck that bothered me. They had grown accustomed to the sweet bread my wife would leave out for them, and I was quite accustomed to their flapping, and squawking, and shitting, but I had no sweet bread to give them, the stove had gone cold a long time ago.. I would have killed to hear the train whistle of a kettle my mother-in-law had given to us, but it sat collecting dust on one of the burners…     It wasn’t the leaky faucet in our guest bathroom that bothered me eith...

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“Summer of 96'” by L.B Rinker

Submitted to Contest #102

  I remember it like it was yesterday.. It was the summer of 96', I had just finished playing baseball with some friends, and I was on my way home to get ready for a family outing. My white Chuck Taylors turned grey as I stirred up dust on that old gravel road. I could feel each rock through my shoes as I stepped on them, I might as well have been barefoot.. I was a teenager at the time, about fourteen I'd say, so the mile walk from my friend's house back to my own wasn't exactly a challenge, but still I had to stop for a minute, t...

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“Resilient” by L.B Rinker

Submitted to Contest #86

    The sun wasn’t yet shining, but I could see its light peeking out from behind the treeline. The birds had been singing for a while, that’s what woke me up that morning. Bumblebees searched the garden for the tulips that had budded, but not bloomed, they seemed to understand that the time wasn’t quite right, but that it wouldn’t be long, spring was upon us. I stood on my porch, looking out at the the sun slowly rise over the pines, they swayed gently in the frigid breeze, creaking like old rocking chairs. I sipped on my st...

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“Fällhourn” by L.B Rinker

Submitted to Contest #85

    That’s the thing about this city, people come from all around, and no one ever leaves. It isn’t that they fall in love with the beauty of it all, though it is beautiful. Between the neon lights, and all the clowns down on their last dime, it can feel like a carnival, and that can make you feel like a kid again, but Richie Rich wasn’t a gambler… his parents probably were.      This city.. it lives on the blood of the innocent, human or otherwise. You think those animals in there wanna be fightin’? Sheddi...

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“Drink.Die.Rain” by L.B Rinker

Submitted to Contest #83

    Drink.Die.Rain My lips were cracking, burning, as I laid there in the hot sand in the middle of town. My head rested against the steps to the saloon, the plan had been to get something to drink, I prayed for water, but would have settled for whiskey, they didn’t have either. It hadn’t rained for months, the whole area was bone dry, even the reserves were tapped out. My horse, Delilah, who had already succumbed to dehydration, baked in the sun just a few feet away, she was starting the stink. I tried swatting the flies awa...

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“Bits and Pieces” by L.B Rinker

Submitted to Contest #80

    I laid there, in that cold white room, on that stiff bed that made my back ache more than usual. I remember the uncomfortable silence, just the beeping of my heart rate monitor, and my own ragged breathing. The bright lights flickered like in a horror film. My suit and tie were hung up somewhere in the facility, but I didn’t know where. I was a slave to the revealing backless gown they had given me, the official uniform of vulnerability. Most men my age had no problem at all walking around a gym locker room on full display...

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“Bitter Suite” by L.B Rinker

Submitted to Contest #63

A blue convertible cruises down the interstate. Beer cans tied to the bumper rattle wildly together in the wind. The “Just Married” bannister that had once been taped to the rear windshield was in a ditch somewhere between the car, and the fifty miles of road behind it. Inside the car the newly-weds, Ashlynn and Robert, sing along to the radio, still wearing their tuxedo and gown. “WHERE ARE WE GOING?!” Ashlynn demands. “I’m your WIFE now! You have to tell me EVERYTHING!” She insists playfully. Robert smiles and shakes his head, not taking h...

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“Be Back Soon” by L.B Rinker

Submitted to Contest #62

I put my ashes in a time capsule a couple towns over. Twenty years from now, it will be opened. The spectators' curiosity will certainly lead to a DNA test of some kind. In their records they'll find my name, Olivia Green. I'll finally be declared legally dead, murdered, or so they'll assume. I will finally be able to live a life untethered to this world, to its responsibilities.. I've spent years dreaming of that kind of release, I suppose that's why they call it "longing".. When that train comes today I won't be waiting idly by admiring ...

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