Lyn Carstone

“Where I Come From” by Lyn Carstone

“Where I come from, no one would be batting an eye at this.” Elliot said, looking decidedly unimpressed with the whole thing. Fred glanced at the woman he had met only six months ago but who had quickly become his best friend. “Oh, really?” He said, lifting an eyebrow. “This happen frequently then?” Was he fishing for clues about Elliot’s past? Yes. And he would readily admit that. His friend was pretty tight-lipped about, well, everything. Elliot grinned, her eyes sparkling. “So frequent, no one even stops to watch anymore.” Fred looked bac...

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“Change Begins with Awkwardness” by Lyn Carstone

Sunday dinner at the Noraway house wasn’t optional but had her siblings really had to bring their work home with them? They all stared at the body laying limply on top of shattered dishes and ceiling debris. The silence seemed to drag on as they all tried to comprehend what exactly had just happened. A man had fallen through the ceiling- obviously- but what had he been doing up there was the bigger question. Jessica glanced around at her family. Mum and Dad looked far too composed for having a possibly dead body on their dining room table wh...

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“The Spell in the Stars” by Lyn Carstone

Magic lived in the stars. Grandma taught me that when I was little. Settled on the back porch swing on hot summer nights we’d looked up at the stars together. She taught me their names, how to hear them, and how to summon the magic down. Just as her mother taught her and her mother before that back until a time that no one remembers. The only thing she hadn’t taught me was what to do when the magic stopped working. “What do you mean it’s not working?” Gareth, my work partner and friend, gave me and incredulous look. He looked at the pond ref...

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“A Day for Remembering” by Lyn Carstone

Submitted to Contest #101

1175 As I wrap a shawl around my shoulders, I catch my reflection in the mirror. Lines etch my face whispering of a life long-lived. I shake my head and leave my small home. Neighbors nod to me in greeting but say nothing and that is the way I prefer it. Especially today. Today was not a day for talking but for remembering. Even if I was the only one who did. 1135 The echo of the dropped platter rings in the hall. Everyone looks at me. I do not look at them but drop to the floor. I’m supposed to be invisible; not drawing attention to mysel...

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“The Enemy of an Enemy” by Lyn Carstone

Submitted to Contest #100

Upstairs “We could still leave.” Crosser said as Valor checked the noodles. Nearly done. “We can’t. Too much is at stake.” The screams of friends echoed in her mind. “They won’t help us.” Her watch beeped. Valor pulled up the video screen and zoomed in. Dressed in their normal dark colors, not bothering to conceal their identities, Vilen and Bruiser entered the warehouse. “And yet here they are.” They would help. Valor had to believe that Vilen and Bruiser would come around. “They won’t help.” Crosser repeated. They had to, she thought. It...

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“The Brain Freeze Tradition: A Raspberry Family Story” by Lyn Carstone

Submitted to Contest #98

Raspberry House was buzzing with activity as everyone prepared for the first day of summer celebrations. Stella, along with a half dozen other family members were on ice cream making duty in the kitchen. A duty which Stella was already late for. “Stella!” Little Dorian barreled towards her. She caught him up in her arms. “Have you seen Aunt Raz? She was supposed to be back this morning but she’s not back and we can’t do the brain freezing contest without her!” “Hey, calm down buddy. Aunt Raz will be back. She hasn’t missed a contest yet.” ...

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“The Unexpected Knock” by Lyn Carstone

Submitted to Contest #97

The knock was unexpected. After all it was only Tuesday and movies nights weren’t till Thursday so no one should be knocking on the window. Maybe I had imagined it. It was probably just my mind’s desperate attempt at escaping the tedium of learning when famous weapons were forged. Some days I really hated homework. I rubbed one of my delicate horns, trying to encourage myself to focus. Another knock. Not my imagination then. I glanced at the purple drapes that hid the secret window. A third knock- this one sounded a bit desperate. I tossed ...

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“A Stranger in Boysenberry Falls” by Lyn Carstone

Submitted to Contest #96

Boysenberry Falls was a small town. Well, more of a spot in the road than a town. There was the blacksmith, the stable, the inn, the diner, six houses, and the general store. A few years ago that was plenty. But now more of the families were having children. Children who needed a teacher. Thomas glanced down at the catalog he had been studying. Primers were easy enough to come by. But someone would have to teach them to use their primers. Their parents were busy enough with their own work and they wouldn’t have the time, energy, or knowledge...

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“A Little Noise in the Library” by Lyn Carstone

Submitted to Contest #91

“Would you be quiet?” Ms. Stern hissed through clenched teeth as a giant chicken approached. She drew her sword (standard librarian tool) and moved into a fighting stance. The chicken bwaked. Hazel giggled. I clapped a hand over her mouth. She put her hands over mine as Ms. Stern muttered, “I told Roger chickens were a mistake to add to the collection.” Fifty-Seven Minutes Earlier I took a deep breath as I stood on the steps of the Haversham Library. It was a week past my ninth birthday which meant I was finally old enough to enter the old...

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“When Death Comes” by Lyn Carstone

Submitted to Contest #89

When my time finally comes, I am at peace. I smile and greet Death as an old friend. Two Weeks Earlier Clunk. Shuffle. Shuffle. My cane and I make our way down the garden path of my childhood home. It feels fitting that my time will end here in the same place that it began. And my time is coming. I can feel it deep in my bones. And I am grateful. I am tired. Both in my mind and in my soul. I am ready to reunited with those who have gone before me; especially my love. Twenty years we have been apart and it feels closer to a hundred. Besides...

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“Pixie Pandemonium” by Lyn Carstone

Submitted to Contest #87

Zef giggled while Effie sighed. The two were perched on tree branch awaiting a victim for their current illusionary prank. It was standard fare. A bog had moved into the area and they had spelled the surface of his home to appear like it was still a grassy field and not the swampy marsh thing it had become. Zef, her best friend since they were pixlings, giggled again. Mere months ago, she would have been in the same laughing, high-spirited mood. But lately…lately, the normal zing of excitement from a prank about to be pulled or a heist ...

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“Them, Forever” by Lyn Carstone

Submitted to Contest #85

1926 Pearl can’t help being a little awestruck as she stares up at the Hotel Finch. Forty floors of pure opulence. Anyone who was anyone came here for the parties and tonight for just a little while she would join them. “You sure about this?” Pearl glances to her sides. Henry shifts from foot to foot, his nerves getting the best of him. “Yes. I’m very sure.” Perhaps surer than she’s even been about anything in her life. “Thank you for walking me Henry, but you can go on home. I’ll be fine.” The look Henry gives her says he very much doubts t...

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“Three Hundred Sixty-Five Days” by Lyn Carstone

Submitted to Contest #84

She never made a sound. That’s what the guards will remember. Day 1 She goes quietly. Two guards in front, two behind- each holding a chain that keeps her a prisoner. She doesn’t try to escape. A white door, in this white, white prison slides open. She could escape. It’s almost laughable of how easy it would be. Her powers are begging to be let out and make the chains dance to her will. But she, Anna Jean Parvell or Prisoner 203521 as she is now known, will stick to the plan. The guards attach her chains to the floor and walls. And right ...

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“L.I.F.E.: A Raspberry Family Story” by Lyn Carstone

Submitted to Contest #82

Maurice was used to strange things happening. For one thing- he lived in Boysenberry Falls; a place that had their own supervillain and hero for pity’s sake. And reason two; four of his best friends were Raspberries. And everyone in town knew that to be friends with Raspberries meant being on a first-name base with the weird and impossible. So he wasn’t exactly surprised when the app he was designing went from saying its first word: “Hello” and followed it with its first sentence, curiosity filling its slightly metallic voice- “What are you ...

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“The Story” by Lyn Carstone

Submitted to Contest #81

Present Day “Tell me the story again.” Cassidy spun away from the console where she had been helping me arrange pictures. As we had worked, she had begged for the story that went along with each photo declaring each one her favorite. Her Mom being born, mine and Carol’s first date, the first photo of me holding Cassidy, vacations, and birthdays. “What story?” I hedged but I knew which one. The one that went with the picture in the middle. Or more accurately the story that resulted in the center photo. Cassidy asked over and over again for me...

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