Paul Hellyer

“No Escape” by Paul Hellyer

Submitted to Contest #279

I hate being locked up in this place. And I’m not even crazy. This place is the Karibu psych ward, and I’m in here for what their calling a psychotic episode. The night when I came in, I was walking home in the rain, when I started to feel things. My thoughts were being read by a whole group of people, and I could feel each and every one of them staring into my mind. They were all asking me questions: “Who are you?” “Why should we choose you?” “What do you know about us?”Soaked and chilled as the storm belted do...

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“Last Goodbyes” by Paul Hellyer

Submitted to Contest #278

My husband stands obliviously with his back to me, as I read the letter taken from the mailbox. I would recognize that handwriting anywhere.“Dear Antionette, how can I forgive myself after all that happened between us? I wanted to show you who I really was, I wanted you to see the real me. So, I determined to face your inquisitiveness head on. When you asked me why I am always so late out of bed, I told you the truth. That I was tethered to this game that demanded my time and effort each day. That I was essentia...

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“Wicked Lies Will Only Get You So Far” by Paul Hellyer

Submitted to Contest #277

‘Ah, David, thanks for coming!’ His friend Anatoly said, after opening his apartment door. David reached forward eagerly to shake his friends’ hands, before kicking off his shoes in the hallway.‘Let’s play some Anachrony.’ Muttered Anatoly, rifling through a glossy stack of boardgames. But David began to feel like he was being driven into a corner. The game took hours to play, and without fail he always managed to finish with half the score of his friend. His mind frantically began to look for solutions to the i...

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“Unexpected Advice” by Paul Hellyer

Submitted to Contest #274

The Eurythmics, Sweet Dreams was playing in the worn-down bar, though Kathy thought the place had a certain charm. She was dancing unabashedly on the empty floor, seemingly the only one with any steam to vent. The lonely figures of men were sitting at the bar, occupying otherwise empty tables, it should have been a quiet night.But Kathy wasn’t thinking about them. She was waiting for something to happen. Something was bound to happen. After all, today had been a day of such drastic change, she could see no signs of i...

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“It's Hard To Make Friends” by Paul Hellyer

Submitted to Contest #264

The frigid streets were animated by the stirrings of leaves on the sidewalk. But George was lost in his own world, walking forward while staring at the ground in front of his feet, unassailable in the sanctuary of a bubble of his own creation.‘Why am I always like this?’ He said to himself, thinking of the events of yesterday.He had gone for the third time to a book club that he had joined because he had decided he was spending too much time alone. The book club had been a haven, a place of warmth in his otherwise cold life.&n...

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“Wedding Blues” by Paul Hellyer

Submitted to Contest #264

It was 12:00 am, and the wedding reception was still going strong. Everyone seemed glad the long drawn out ceremony was over, as beautiful as it had been.  Jackie was on her 4th glass of champagne, and her table was positively brimming with lively conversation and gossip. Some had bravely taken their positions on the dancefloor, and few had left, due to the late hour, but clearly the ones who had stayed at the table were in too deep to walk away now. ‘And I told him, you have no chance, absolutely no chance with Mary, so you shoul...

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“Wasteland War” by Paul Hellyer

Submitted to Contest #263

The lumbering tanks rolled forward, flanked by vast numbers of grey uniformed infantry. Above them, fighter jets roared across the sky jubilantly. Further south, Denson was sitting in the command vehicle, a camo painted van with many antennas and a radar dish on its roof. All the battlefield information was at his fingertips. He watched as the tanks rolled forward on the display screen, expectantly waiting to see if an ambush would commence, or if there were any other unplanned events. So far so good, they were claiming m...

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“The Door” by Paul Hellyer

Submitted to Contest #263

Joseph clumsily pushed open the door to his apartment after noisily fiddling with his keys, his arms laden with shopping bags. From outside the hum of traffic and cars seeped through the walls, and he could hear his next-door neighbour shouting at his kids. After closing the front door, he shuffled into the kitchen and put his shopping bags on the counter. His job – forklift driving – had been stressful this day. He had gone back and forth around the warehouse, frantically shifting pallets around trying to bring some kind of o...

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“Salad Days” by Paul Hellyer

Submitted to Contest #259

At last, Alphonse arrived, fashionably late in the usual conspicuous manner that he had come to be known for. The sleek Bentley pulled up slowly in front of the house, and even the servants couldn’t help but raise their eyebrows, as he cavorted out of the back, his impeccable cream suit offset by an outrageous looking pink dyed fur. If PETA had anything to say about that, he had clearly not gotten the memo. The front doors to the foyer swung wide open with a great crash, and he strode in elegantly and confidently.‘Smashing party.&n...

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“For what?” by Paul Hellyer

Submitted to Contest #257

The sound of gunfire echoed across the battlefield, as Gavin led the charge to the next point of cover.‘Forward, forward! To me!’ He cried, rushing past the wall where his unit was taking shelter. The rest of the motley crew of armed students and other men ran with him, some not fated to last the day, as they fell screaming, riddled with bullets. Beyond them, the imposing building of parliament house stood preceding over the events. Before them, the military were holed up behind a wall in front of the house, the last...

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“A Mysterious Parting” by Paul Hellyer

Submitted to Contest #255

A bitter wind howled across the black as pitch field, the stars and the moon hidden by thick clouds. The wind chimed in his ears, like a deep and heavy bell, and the chill of it stabbed through the single layer of clothing he was wearing. Seeing nothing except the darkness, he was condemned to this lonely post at the midnight hour and so he sank to a sitting position, feeling the ruddy grass brush across the rawness of his skin. How had this happened? He thought of the series of events that had transpired earlier in the day. ‘...

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“The Mark” by Paul Hellyer

Submitted to Contest #251

Micheal felt his heart leap with joy as he entered the grounds. The ancient, sandstone block buildings of the King’s university were part of the most prestigious university in the world. And how could it be, that across the entire world, one place was considered the greatest? Because the thing that had seemed inevitable had finally come to pass. The world was finally ruled by one government.The year was 2600, and Micheal Dawson lived in Sydney Australia. He was happy in his life as an academic, he was a voracious rea...

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“Paradise Lost” by Paul Hellyer

‘Honey, would you mind if I went away for a bit? I want to see the resting place of the lions.’ Came Adam’s voice from across the lush field that Eve and him were currently in, as they were eating their fill of fruit.Eve loved Adam with all her heart, and she trusted that he would only be away for a while. She bit into a juicy guava fruit and smiled at him warmly.‘Adam, that’s fine. But please don’t be gone for too long. You know how I miss you when you go away.’ She replied.All around them were a multitude of fruit ...

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“Ends of the Earth” by Paul Hellyer

Submitted to Contest #247

Jeanie never truly got comfortable with the cold, deep-sea station, and it wasn’t as though the developers hadn’t tried. Though the lights in the facility mimicked the day night cycle above the water, turning golden in the early mornings and afternoons, brighter around midday, and completely dark at night, it could not distract her from the barren, oppressive, murk that embraced the facility, always visible through the facilities glass windows. It was unmistakably unsettling to her, being kilometers below the ocean’s surface, completely cut ...

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“Star's End” by Paul Hellyer

Submitted to Contest #245

Three camels trotted languidly across a sweeping red desert. Upon these peculiar beasts, sat three wizened men, with rich dark skin, dressed in flowing purple and gold robes. They were a solemn procession, tracking softly through the endless sands, and had travelled in silence for the last few hours.In the fullness of time, one of them spoke, his voice cutting into the meditative quiet.‘Asuma, do you think they will think us mad?’The man who had been addressed held his peace for a few moments, perhaps considering what been said, before reply...

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