Merinda Forwood

“All the time of the world” by Merinda Forwood

“We have all the time in the world,” Jamie grinned. “No worries.” Allie rolled her eyes, then turned to watch the ash settle on the car. “You mean, all the time that this world has left, right?” The sun had turned red days ago, not long after the ash had started falling from the sky, choking the air and whatever plants had been left to harvest. Somehow, the giant volcanic eruption, bigger than Krakatoa, Vesuvius and Mt St Helens combined, had exploded without any warning from the scientific community. If they were to be believed, it had ca...

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“The Real Me” by Merinda Forwood

Dear Dr Reyoles, They’re making me write this. I’m supposed to explain things. Like that will make anything better. It wasn’t my fault that I got here. I just wanted to make people happy, and I took on a role to make that happen. Then things changed. People were constantly surrounding me, telling me who I was, where I’d end up, how my life would be in the meantime. I never believed them, not at first. It was a part I was playing, just an act that I put on to try and please those around me. It seemed to work, for a while. Everyone seemed ha...

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“The Cat's Meow” by Merinda Forwood

Would you believe me if I told you that a cat changed my life? Technically it wasn’t the cat, but deciding to follow that cat certainly changed my life. I was walking down the street after finishing work, dragging my feet and wondering just how much longer I could keep doing it. Then I saw it. A beautifully striped ginger cat, with a bowtie collar and a silver tag hanging under the bowtie. The cat was just sitting there, right in the middle of the footpath, seeming to stare at me as I got closer. It wasn’t until I was only a metre away fr...

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“The First Female Graduate of Merlin's School of Wizardry” by Merinda Forwood

Submitted to Contest #176

I stood outside the tent, shaking, willing myself to go in. I was beginning to hate the smell of chocolate cake. I smoothed the skirt of my robe, then clenched my fists by my side. It was so unfair. I was better than this. My assistant, Keira, nudged me. “Go on, they’re waiting. You don’t want a riot, do you?” I groaned and tossed my hair back before taking a deep breath and deliberately relaxing my hands. I picked up my wizard hat and stared at it. I’d lived through one of those riots before, when a twelve-year-old had thought I didn’t liv...

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“The Hunter's Game” by Merinda Forwood

Submitted to Contest #149

Do you want to play a game? I used to ask that question all the time, like lots of kids on the playground. Then we grow up, and most adults stop asking it. Maybe if they want to play cards, or some kind of board game, or a computer game. I still ask it regularly, but now, thanks to some movie I’ve never seen, it is a question that must be asked in a creepy voice if it is to be asked properly. Fortunately, that works for me. I live out in the woods, miles from anywhere. I don’t have anything nearby to encourage visitors. Those who play ...

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“Cracks” by Merinda Forwood

Submitted to Contest #96

Rachel inched down the hallway, linen bundled in her arms, until she reached the blue door. Her fingertips automatically reached to glide over the nameplate, but this time, instead of moving on, they traced the woodwork to the handle and twisted. She paused, thinking how long it had been since she had entered this room, then took a deep breath and pushed. The hinges cried as they protested being used. Did she have any WD-40 in the house? Maybe down in the laundry, with all the other home repair items that didn’t get used any more. The bed sa...

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“The Mission” by Merinda Forwood

Submitted to Contest #91

It was almost night. The crowds below scurried in opposite directions, in that crossover between the work crowd going home, and the entertainment crowd heading out to dinner. Getting across the city with his precious cargo undetected would be a challenge, but he could do it. Half an hour or less, without being stopped. Those were the terms. Going back to his map, he plotted out his routes. The direct way, then potential side streets and short cuts through and over buildings to avoid detection. Failure on these kinds of missions usually came ...

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“Schrӧdinger” by Merinda Forwood

Submitted to Contest #76

“Is he alive?”“I don’t know. He looks pretty dead to me.”I’m alive. I can hear you! Please help me!“You should check him. Take his pulse.”“No way, man! I don’t want to touch him if he’s dead. You do it.”I’m not dead! Check my pulse, please!“I don’t really know how. I’ve only seen it in the movies. Maybe we should just call an ambulance. They’ll have to come here anyway, whether he’s dead or alive.”“Good point. I’ll call them, you stick your fingers on his neck and see if you can find his pulse. I’m sure you can figure it out if you’ve seen i...

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“Ramona's Escape” by Merinda Forwood

Submitted to Contest #74

Ramona crawled through the hidden entrance under her bed and sat, her small, battery-operated lantern dimly lighting up the small space. She didn’t know who’d created the little tunnel and tiny room, but it offered a small escape from her miserable existence. Time when her guardian would be looking for her instead of barking orders or punishing her for imagined infractions. It was a pity that the tunnel would not offer an escape completely. Further digging would only bring her deeper under the mountain the building backed onto. At least her ...

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“The Longest Walk” by Merinda Forwood

Submitted to Contest #74

As Jessica left her classroom and began to walk down the breezeway, she held her books close and tried not to think of all the things she had to do. Tried not to think of how Ethan looked when he sat in front of her in class, or how he never seemed to speak to or even look at her. Tried not to rehearse how she would ask him out, if she ever found the courage.At the end of the breezeway, Jessica turned to walk along the covered walkway that ran around the student courtyard. She never hung out there, but Ethan often did. Pausing next to one of...

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“A long and happy life” by Merinda Forwood

Submitted to Contest #68

"Is the rumour true, then? We're all going to die?"“Unfortunately, yes. The meteorite is due to hit in five hours. All the media know so far is that it's going to come close. That’s all we are going to tell them. The last thing we want to do is set off a panic about something that cannot be changed. We don’t want to make humanity’s last few hours worse than they have to be."“True. At least everything here will die instantly. Those on the far side of the Earth will not end so well.”James scrambled up from the flower bed underneath the window,...

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“Finding the onkdehns” by Merinda Forwood

Submitted to Contest #67

The moment Sarah reached the top of the ridge, she knew she was in the right place. Not from the view. The croecten trees were far too tall and far too thick, their fan-like orange leaves nodding in the breeze, for anyone to see beneath. No, it was the smell rolling over the hill that told her what lay underneath.If someone could capture the scent of dried fish, mix it with the scent of roses and lavender, then steep it in the scent of old tea before distilling it into a solid mass that you could use like an anvil in the old Road Runner cart...

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“The Graveyard Shift” by Merinda Forwood

Submitted to Contest #65

“Are we going to stay the whole night?” “The whole night? I think we should.” “OK. Let’s just stay together. It’s weird here at night.” Ted and George entered the graveyard through the gate, more eerie by its silent swing than if it had creaked as tradition demanded. This graveyard was supposed to be the most haunted spot in town, although Ted didn’t really believe in ghosts. Overactive imaginations and liars took care of most, if not all, of the stories in his opinion. It was hard not to get caught up in the atmosphere, though. The location...

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“A Burning Desire” by Merinda Forwood

Submitted to Contest #64

“Don’t forget we have to tidy up the house tonight. Rebecca will be here tomorrow.” Those were Stacey’s last words to Rodney before the fire. He’d grunted, not looking forward to having a houseguest, then kissed her goodbye and left for work. That night, when he turned into his street, the house was already well ablaze. Eyes fixed on the window where Stacey usually waited with a book, he hit the gutter as he stopped, almost falling out of the car in his urgency to get inside, to save her. Sirens increased in volume behind him as he sprinted ...

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“Oven-scent” by Merinda Forwood

Submitted to Contest #61

(Disclaimer: Technically this story is about the last time a person smelled something, not the first, but I'd be interested to hear people's thoughts anyway.) Her mother never would have approved if she were there, but Emma pulled the oven door open slightly to peek at the biscuits. The heat and scent flowed out together, and as they hit her face, Emma became six years old again. “Can I eat some now, Mama? Just a little piece?” Watching as the first tray of biscuits was slid into the oven, Emma knew that she was unlikely to get what she...

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