Marcia H.

“Mom's Last Thank You” by Marcia H.

I was always brought up to say please and thank you as a form of being polite, having manners. Did I always mean the many times I said please, thank you, your welcome, bless you or any of the numerous polite sayings I was taught, not always. I went along as a child saying thank you when someone gave me something whether I wanted it or not. Once one of my grandmother’s gave me a clam. I knew that I would not like the taste of it because I could not stand the stench of it and the smell alone almost made me sick. But, I had to say thank you and...

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“The End of the Day” by Marcia H.

Submitted to Contest #119

All of her life Mrs. Fletcher had an almost pathological fear of missing the train to work. She had worked in the same office doing the same thing for over 20 years. She could not be late today of all days, her final day. Each day before work she would wake up four hours early and get out of bed and summon the butler, Charles, who would in turn summon the cook, Julie, who would rush into the kitchen to cook Mrs. Fletcher’s breakfast.  Each morning was the same breakfast. Julie would cook two eggs over easy, cut up exactly two and a half...

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“The Voiceless Song Bird” by Marcia H.

Submitted to Contest #118

The old weathered bench in the backyard of my grandmother had been there as long as I can remember. I remember playing hide and seek with my sister and cousins with me hiding under the bench curled up in a ball thinking I had become invisible and nobody could see me. I imagine that is the feeling that my mom feels now, invisible. I sat down on the bench and gazed up at the tall plum tree that was right in front of the bench. My grandmother hated that tree. She hated it mostly because the plums would fall on the ground and we would trample ov...

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“Seraph Vs. Diabolus” by Marcia H.

Submitted to Contest #117

He felt it raging throughout his body. He knew that he was going to have to fight again. Fight  for the one thing that he treasured more than anything  his soul. He knew that he  was coming again. He comes every year and only once a year. He glanced at the calendar and the date was circled in red marker. He knew that he had to get ready for war which would rage inside of him.  People called him many names. He was known as the Prince of darkness, Beelzebub, Mephistopheles, Iblis, the angel of death or most commonly known...

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“Confessions of a Sinner” by Marcia H.

Submitted to Contest #116

The box was small and dark. I hated going in there.I hated the darkness but every Friday I didn’t have a choice. I made it to the front of the line and waited my turn. In my head I was thinking of the things that I was required to say when the door opened to the box and the person before me stepped out. I really didn’t have anything to say but that would not do. You were expected to say something once you entered the box and the door  closed. I wiped my wet sweaty  hands on my uniform skirt and tugged at the bottom of my sweater. S...

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“Embracing a Ghost” by Marcia H.

Submitted to Contest #115

“Zina?” The voice said on the other end of the phone. “Yes.” There was a long pause. Zina forced her left hand in her coat pocket. The cold blustery winds were whipping widely on that October evening. She walked toward the middle of the block and looked at the four corners. She tried to decide which way to go but it didn’t matter. All the roads led to one thing.  “What happened?” Her friend’s voice asked on the phone. “I’ m walking.” Zina responded. “Me too. But you might need to run.” Her friend, Doug responded back. The line...

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“Loving Henry” by Marcia H.

Submitted to Contest #114

Gia was only 15  years old when she looked into the eyes of Cody for the first time. It took less than a minute for her soul to recognize him. Then without saying a word he turned and walked away from her. The sharp sting her heart felt never went away although he did. One day he just didn’t come to school. Someone told her that he had moved away suddenly. She regretted not speaking to him.  Gia married Henry Jackson Broussard in the summer after she graduated from college. She had plans to become a teacher but her plans changed ...

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“In Color” by Marcia H.

Submitted to Contest #113

A dream is just a dream unless you are Esme Quatermain Brady than a dream is not a dream. A dream becomes the future. Esme knew she had what her grandmother, Misty, used to call “the gift” since she was a little girl. She didn’t want the gift at times. She didn’t want the gift when she had a dream that her grandmother, Misty, was calling her and she couldn’t find her. She could hear her grandmother’s voice and see her hands reaching out to her but she couldn’t see her face or the rest of her body. She tried and tried to see her grandmother’s...

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“Good Over Evil” by Marcia H.

Submitted to Contest #112

Grayson tried to focus his eyes and blinked rapidly. The face above him was blurry but he recognized it just the same. He rubbed his eyes and his vision cleared. He looked up at the face again and was in disbelief not because of the face but for other reasons.  “It’s about time you woke up, Grayson, my son.” The face said. “Look, for the last time I am not your son and where am I?”  “All in good time Grayson, all in good time you will have all the answers to your questions.” The man said in a low voice.  Grayson could ...

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“Two Thumbs Up” by Marcia H.

Submitted to Contest #110

Hitchhiker’s row is what they called it. It was the part of Old Cotters Road where on any given day or night you would see only one thing besides Mr. Murphy’s cows in the pasture. A  row of hitchhikers would be standing in a line thumbs up looking for a ride out of town. That’s exactly what Justin Paris saw when he drove down that country road on a hot July’s day.  Justin was from Arrow Wood, a few towns away from Old Cotters Town and today he was on his way to Junction City. Junction City was the place where his new job was. He ...

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“Deadly Secrets Between Friends” by Marcia H.

Submitted to Contest #109

Mia dreaded Monday mornings. She loved her job but hated how manic Monday’s are at her job since she got promoted. She had worked in the library since high school and now only 10 years later she was the assistant director sitting in a sweet office with a view to die for. She often looked out of her office window and pinched herself because she knew this had to be a dream. A dream she didn’t want to ever end. Until one Monday morning she thought she was in a nightmare at 8am. Mia sat in her plush office chair and threw her purse in the bott...

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“The Wish” by Marcia H.

Submitted to Contest #108

Spencer loved to garden and do what he called “pulling the magic weeds from the ground.” He loved to garden almost from the time he could walk outside. But, his high society loving parents didn’t think that it was a good idea for their only son to be outside kneeling in muddy dirt and wet grass besides their gardener every day. Spencer on the other hand didn’t mind the getting mud and dirt from the earth on his clothes and occasionally digging up the elusive earthworms. He loved the feeling of how the dirt caressed his little hands while dig...

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“The Killer Beneath Me” by Marcia H.

Submitted to Contest #107

Steve stood over the body with the bloody knife in his right hand. The blade of the knife and his hand were covered in blood. He felt like he was frozen in time. He threw the knife on the floor and bent over the body. He rolled up the rug the body was lying on and rolled the body in the rug. He had to get the body and himself out of that apartment without being seen.  Mary checked the clock on her phone for the hundredth time. Where was her husband? He should have been home hours ago. Tonight was their anniversary and they had special...

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“Time Goes By” by Marcia H.

Submitted to Contest #106

Time is something that you can have too much of or too little of. Time is always there and you never notice it until you run out of it and need more of it or you have too much of it on your hands.  Zana wished that she could put all the time she needed into a huge container, an unbreakable container and when she needed more time she could take some out and when she had too much time she could put it all back in. Her container would have all the pictures of her family and friends framed around it as a reminder of time and to make time ...

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“The Making of the Pies” by Marcia H.

Submitted to Contest #105

Savanna stood in her kitchen in front of the kitchen counter. Focusing her eyes on the index card in front of her. She held it closer to her eyes and realized she needed her reading glasses. Grandma’s famous sweet potato pie was scrolled neatly on top of the card. It was Savanna’s year to make the pies for the Sunday family dinner. She had never made pie before. Her speciality was cookies. She could make some of the most yummy cookies on the planet. But, not today. Today she had to learn how to make a pie in a day and a half. She read the re...

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