Lynel Black

“The Birthday Gift” by Lynel Black

When you have lived in the same house for long enough, it becomes part of you in ways that are hard to pin down. The well worn paths we take from the fridge to the lounge, the closet to the shower, my home office to my workshop. Then there are those corners that you hardly know at all. The ones you never think about. Like the top shelf of that old cupboard in the basement, or the contents of the dusty boxes forgotten in the attic. The day to day shuffle around your space rarely takes you to these out of the way corners. This is where things ...

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“The Rock” by Lynel Black

Diary preamble (Thanks to Sven for helping me with it) The Earth completely changed in one day, which took a whole year. A change that no living thing could deny. A change that would test the resilience of all life on earth. Humanity, in an orgy of hubris, declared history over, as if nothing could derail its success. In many ways it succeeded. No other organism in the evolutionary history of Earth had attained such a profound level of ubiquity. In fact, had it been another species, humans would have called it an unstoppable pest, a cata...

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“The Medium” by Lynel Black

“So, is this your first consultation with a psychiatrist?” “Ah, yeah” replied Brandon from deep within the comfortable couch, but looking at him, it would clear he did not want to be here. This was in glaring contrast to desperation with which Brandon insisted on the earliest possible appointment. “I must ask you two direct questions before we proceed. I will ask them both together and please take a moment before you answer: Are you here of your own free will?; and do you have suicidal thoughts?” Brandon knew the answer immediately, bu...

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“Repentance ” by Lynel Black

Timur wrestled the old bike out from the pile of junk in the shed. His old car stopped running yesterday and none of his efforts last night managed to get it going. Now stranded, the car made getting the bike out all the harder. He gritted his teeth and applied more force against the other junk conspiring to thwart his efforts. He hadn’t counted on this, so now he was running late for his doctor's appointment this morning. He pumped the pedals as hard as he could with his untrained legs and broke into a sweat despite the cool autumn air. H...

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“The Blackberry house” by Lynel Black

Submitted to Contest #217

Our home was on the edge of town when I was growing up. We lived in a new project home in a new development, but our backyard faced bushland. Our manicured garden was hemmed in by a six-foot pailing timber fence which marked the bleeding edge of the modern urban sprawl. Beyond was pristine bushland. My haven of mystery. This is where I would go to meet my friends and where we would get up to all sorts of adventures. One of our favourite places to go was the old Blackberry house. We coined this because of the tremendous blackberry vine whic...

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“The most beautiful monster in the world” by Lynel Black

Submitted to Contest #215

The Pacific coast of Mexican is stunning beyond belief. A carpet of tropical jungle covers the mountainous terrain. A verde rug of fertility, meeting the jagged azure waters of the Pacific. The entire landscape hummed with life. Ants and spiders, jaguars and toucans, and of course the people with their vibrant and energetic Mariachi music leaking like Tequila from every hovel and hotel. Fred had crossed from Cabo San Lucas, where he left the dry arid desert of Baja, and dove into the steam bath of Tropical mainland Mexico. The change thr...

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“The Price of Progress” by Lynel Black

Submitted to Contest #213

My childhood is a far away memory, abstract and serene. Green trees and mountain hikes are what I remember best. Such a jarring divorce from today. Now, everything happens on our smartphones, but this is not the smartphones of old. Smartphones on which we happily shared pics and vids of our happy lives on Instagram or Tic Tok. The smartphone is now your life, literally. No smartphone, no money. No, smartphone, no freedom, that is if freedom is what you want to call it anymore. Covid 19 came and went, then it was the climate crisis overlaid...

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“Mysteries of the Sahel” by Lynel Black

Submitted to Contest #210

Fred’s map showed a village, but now he had arrived, all there was only a handful of abandoned and dilapidated huts. He pushed Wylma to one of them, leaned her up against a post and sat on his haunches in the shadow of a wall.This is bad. Very bad. He said to himself. Very bad indeed.The heat was oppressive and the Sirocco wind was stiff. The trail was mainly sand and Wylma’s wheels preferred to sink into, rather than rolling over it. The laboured meandering path they took was more often Wylma’s choice, than Fred’s.He checked his water sack ...

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“Ayagom, the Resolute” by Lynel Black

Submitted to Contest #209

The afternoon was fresh and dry. A new smell of vitality and growth seeped from the forest around him. It was a very welcome change from the week of rain that Fred and Wylma had endured. A week of persistent drizzle that soaked to the bone and gave no chances to dry anything out. Everything he owned was in various states of saturation. Bitter experience had taught Fred to protect at all cost his sleeping bag, but it had also succumbed to the persistent rain and now felt clammy to the touch. Of course Wylma, his 2 wheeled companion, his accom...

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“Metamorphosis ” by Lynel Black

Submitted to Contest #207

The walk to the small supermarket took about 10 min either way. It could be faster if she took the shortcut through the park, but that had its own costs which she painfully recalled. She walked the long way. Along the cracked footpath, past the homeless tents, stepping over their faeces and discarded needles. The human refuse of society, slumped in impossible positions, passed out, or possibly even dead. Nobody would notice, nobody cared. Her list didn’t contain much. Scribbled at the top was 2 quarts of Vodka. It was the first thing her m...

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“What lives beneath” by Lynel Black

Submitted to Contest #206

Fred had not been sleeping well of late, and it was playing with his mind now. And there was a lot of quiet time alone for it to play. His whole world was now just him and his 2 wheeled companion Wylma, and the open road. It had been just under a week since Fred had crossed by ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn. A week dogged by a medley of misfortunes which were getting the best of his mood, not to mention the constant drizzly rains intent on giving Fred the worst possible impression of the Baltic. It was 6pm, and Fred had just left Valmier...

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“The value of being seen” by Lynel Black

Submitted to Contest #205

It was going to be a clear and bright night. The sun had finally released its warming grip giving way to a cool ominous breeze. It had been a long and gruelling, but very fulfilling day on the bicycle. Fred and Wylma. They had become a tight team over the months of riding. Wylma: the two wheeled metal pack mule that never gave up. They had set off together over a year ago to see the world. As is his ritual every day, Fred began his search for a place to camp for the night . He found a rough single track that eventually led into the sharp a...

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“The Birthday Gift” by Lynel Black

Submitted to Contest #199

When you have lived in the same house for long enough, it becomes part of you in ways that are hard to pin down. The well worn paths we take from the fridge to the lounge, the closet to the shower, my home office to my workshop. Then there are those corners that you hardly know at all. Or you know they are there, but just never think about them. Like the top shelf of that old cupboard in the basement, or the contents of the dusty boxes forgotten in the attic. The day to day shuffle around your space rarely takes you to these out of the way c...

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“Free from the AI?” by Lynel Black

Submitted to Contest #197

Nor walked through the throngs of people. There were more out today than usual but that was no surprise considering the weather. The lush grass underfoot squelched gently under his feet. He checked his com unit which projected a map only he could see which showed his friends as a tight cluster of brighter points on small familiar map a hundred or so meters ahead of him. Hey here’s Nor, said Yoshie to the rest of the group, standing from her squat position. The others followed suit and warmly greeted Nor with a kiss on either cheek as is cu...

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“Sophia” by Lynel Black

A tear rolled down his wrinkled cheek as he began his well worn walk down the busy train platform. How many times has he passed the same faces, in the same poses, the same weather, the same smells, sounds. Everyone here, on their personal little journeys, repeating over and over again. The young blond boy next to the light pole had something different this morning! Could it be. How he hoped for it. A sign? Perhaps his collar was turned up, or folded differently, his fuddled mind was no longer sure of much. Repeated details all blending toget...

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