MATTHEW ANDERSON

“A Mother's Woes” by MATTHEW ANDERSON

Submitted to Contest #84

February 4th, 2021 Hello. I am writing in this book because Janice told me that it usually helped her when she was younger. To write down her thoughts into one of these and maybe I’ll be able to coordinate my scattered thoughts. It’s been difficult ever since we got locked up in this bunker. Things haven’t been the same since. But I’m getting ahead of myself. My name’s Jona. My husband and son’s names are Derek and Charlie. Me and Derek met before the pandemic. Right around summer of 2017. We were younger than and maybe a little foolish t...

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“A Queen's Choice” by MATTHEW ANDERSON

Submitted to Contest #84

She stared out at the city. Now engulfed in flames. The orange lights shining brightly against the dark buildings erected throughout the many districts of the city. Though the fog that descended upon the city's moonlit streets gave the fires a fairly beautiful look, the Queen knew why these fires had been started in the first place. In direct protest of her handling of the plague. Behind closed doors, the Queen invested everything she could into discovering a cure for this plague that had managed to sweep through her city in record time. Ho...

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“Peaches and Shotguns” by MATTHEW ANDERSON

Submitted to Contest #84

Wham! Wham! Wham! John drove the hammer on to the nail with more strength in each hit than the last. This was the third board that John had nailed across his door, and he had much more to do. His entire home consisted of two doors; One of the back and one for the front. Many different windows, and many holes in the roof that he had been meaning to patch up. John never considered himself a very fortunate man. In fact, he was quite the opposite. He had just barely read in the papers that a plague had come to the city. This plague had swept...

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“The Confession Of A "Guilty" Man” by MATTHEW ANDERSON

Submitted to Contest #84

I believe it’s been ninety days since my incarceration. Three whole months that I have just been sitting in my cell. Staring at the small tallies I’ve made with the single piece of stone that I found loose on the floor. Each one signaling a different day that I’ve been in, the dreaded, solitary confinement. I’m surprised that they even gave me this notebook at all.  They must have given to me to keep me from losing my mind. Or to maybe write my own confession. Either way, they aren’t getting it. Because I didn’t kill him. I broke a la...

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“Night Forest” by MATTHEW ANDERSON

Submitted to Contest #83

I had always wondered what the forest was like at night. My father would be one who took me out on hunting parties with his friends and their sons as well. He would always inform me of the dangers of the forest which had surrounded our village before my father was a boy. He would preach the benefits of walking around in pairs and never going too far beyond the village unless an adult was present. I simply understood this as ‘the rules’ and I never really saw a reason to break them. Once I grew into my later years, I began to doubt my paren...

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“Long Needed Break” by MATTHEW ANDERSON

Pepper took one more breath of the fresh tropical air. The mixed smells of salty sea water, mixed with the ripe fruits sold in little stands placed just off the main road flooded her sinuses. It had been far too long since Pepper had smelled anything that wasn’t old city smoke or expensively brewed coffee. It reminded her of her childhood, of the days she’d spend with her family down in Hawaii during summer vacation. Pepper checked her two luggage bags at her side. Feeling their weight as well as patting down both of her pockets. Making sur...

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