S. Closson

“The Neighbor” by S. Closson

Submitted to Contest #65

 In the quiet suburb of Hamilton Heights, everything was peaceful, and nothing was suspicious. The cars that puttered around the neighborhood did so in a slow, responsible manner, and were always driven by familiar faces. The houses that lined the perfectly manicured front lawns were all colonials, painted with sensible, muted colors that didn’t detract from the beautiful uniformity of the others. That pervasive ‘Keeping up with the Jones’ mentality that had dominated most American cul-de-sacs since the 1950’s never managed to...

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“Banshees in the Attic” by S. Closson

Submitted to Contest #64

When kids at school ask me how it feels living in the most haunted house in Rock County, I generally give them a shrug and blow the question off. You may wonder why I don’t just tell them the truth about the whole thing. I understand it probably seems a little petty to keep the existence of what’s really going on behind those decrepit doors all to myself, but I’ve got enough on my plate as it is dealing with the paranormal. Adding school problems to the mix would be just asking for trouble.  Middle School is like that creepy live-acti...

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“Nuclear Foals” by S. Closson

*Author's Note: This story is a prequel to Nuclear Horses. By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire, and there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that we were all fucking doomed.   *** My wonderous little laboratory was tucked away in the middle of that tinderbox. Within the confines of its reinforced walls, I worked happily for many years as I attempted to rid the world of cancer with a series of radical experiments, the only issue was the other experimentation that I was forced to perform in order to sec...

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“Do Popsicles Dream? ” by S. Closson

Submitted to Contest #62

Do popsicles dream? In any other scenario that would be a ridiculous question, but my situation warrants the consideration. I’m shivering like a leaf in the wind on the stool near the stasis chamber, the only thing keeping my ass from freezing off is a small towel that is draped over the cold metal seat.  When I arrived at this procedure, I disrobed before being given one final physical. My uniform has been stuffed into a small box by the door with my name on the lid. I keep glancing over at it, I hope they at least fold my du...

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“Some Sunny Day” by S. Closson

Submitted to Contest #61

Trigger warning: suicide   The smell of Camel cigarettes and spilt booze fill the hotel room. Foggy blue clouds cling to the ceiling like ghostly cowards trying to avoid their date with the Grim Reaper. The lone smoldering cigarette that rests atop the overflowing crystal ashtray has burnt up almost entirely. The only thing keeping the air from becoming entirely stagnant is the little window unit near the door, but despite the rattling machine’s best efforts, the thick haze remains.   The glass screen of the wood-encased Telet...

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“Nuclear Horses” by S. Closson

Submitted to Contest #60

Back when I was a kid, I would always hear all of these excitingly horrifying anecdotes about the apocalypse. It was like some lonely writer was crouched over their computer just typing away as they concocted the zaniest theories that one could imagine, then they spread the theories throughout the lunch room in middle school to both entertain the students, and freak out their parents.For the most part, it was a lot of fun, trying to figure out how humanity would kick the bucket. Everyone had their own ideas of what would happen, but we all p...

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“Greetings From Delilah” by S. Closson

Submitted to Contest #59

There are some places in this world where it would be forgivable to believe you may have stepped through a rift in time, where it can seem that the passage of decades goes by pleasantly unobserved by the denizens that occupy them, while also being small enough to remain unnoticed by the areas surrounding them. Other places seem to exude an almost otherworldly energy, whether it is overwhelmingly positive or unshakably negative depends entirely on who you ask, of course. Over the past few years, I’d spent much of my time enjoying the man...

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“ Attollo Amet!” by S. Closson

Submitted to Contest #58

*Author's Note: This submission contains a healthy helping of profanity, by which I mean a lot...just making you aware. Also, my sincerest apologies to the State of Alabama. Mary Midas bounced back and forth on the heels of her leather loafers inside of the elevator, her annoyance showing plain as day across her fair features. She felt like she'd been standing there for an hour before the silvery steel elevator doors finally decided to close together and allow her to begin her ascent up to the 45th floor of the Mitsui Fudosan&...

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“On the Drift” by S. Closson

Submitted to Contest #58

Trapped in the darkness of the cockpit, I look around the blank screens on my console and feel a sense of dread begin to well up in my chest. It has been some time since the overhead lighting had cut off throughout the ship. The only remaining source of illumination is the piercing red streaks of the emergency lights that sporadically dot the metal grating of the floor. To be honest, it only seems to give everything a hellish red tint, rather than providing any sort of practical light source to work by. I imagine that will impede the Reco...

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“Stains of Shame” by S. Closson

Submitted to Contest #57

As the morning sun began spreading its light along the quiet, cobblestone streets, a chorus of songbirds began their morning serenade. The blanket of fog that had accumulated over the course of the night had settled overtop the gently sloping lands surrounding the ancient town of Cing, giving the area a pervasively ethereal ambiance.Thomas pulled the brim of his dark hat further over his eyes, shielding them from the growing intensity of the orange rays. His pace remained steady as he followed the stone pathway leading to the towering main g...

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“The New Kid” by S. Closson

Submitted to Contest #56

Outside of the Youth Center, I’m stood like a statue, debating whether I’m going to go inside and finally socialize, or retreat back to my mom’s apartment and call it a night. I hate how out of place I'm feeling since we moved here, but I suppose it’s not going to get any better unless I put in some effort to do something about it.  I’m surrounded by the hustle and bustle of the other high school students, with their loud shirts and louder conversations, as they are set loose from their final classes of the day, free to peruse the ...

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“Ahead of the Competition” by S. Closson

Submitted to Contest #56

As the muggy summer day began its transition into yet another gloom-ridden evening in the township of Delilah, two voices echoed across a desolate alleyway. Their conversation began as one born of courtesy, but it soon developed into something more than just idle chatter.   By the metal corrugated doors of the receiving bay behind the abandoned remains of the Big K-Mart, a tall, lanky figure in a black cloth cloak leaned against an old, wooden scythe as he looked over the grotesque scene.  By his bare, pale feet laid the b...

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“Mayday, Captain Midnight! (A follow-up to Onward, Captain Midnight!)” by S. Closson

Submitted to Contest #55

Explosions in space, the destruction moons, the murder of gods.These acts, easily perceived as malicious by the less informed, were taking the Lenin System by storm once more.  Trapped within the confines of the steel cargo container mounted onto the ventral portion of the Sputnik-class rocket ship, the scoundrel of the skies known as Captain Midnight and his foil, the mighty heroine the Blue Yonder had been sought upon by rouge Soviet forces following their failure to stop the villainous Midnight from activating his supe...

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“Grandpa's Last Gift” by S. Closson

Submitted to Contest #55

When my grandfather died, I remember my family and I only having the rest of that sorrowful evening to lament his loss before having to appear composed and proper for his funeral service the following day. I’m still not entirely sure how we managed it, but we did. I could say the same about any number of circumstances that have occurred throughout my life. “You must chin up and carry onwards, dear Victoria,” my dad would always say. “The sorrows of life will not wait for you.”   I wasn't sure if I had the heart to do what was ...

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“The Gentle Deceit” by S. Closson

Submitted to Contest #55

“Can you keep a secret?” she asks me.For a moment I am too distracted by her beauty to reply.I am hung up in the way that the light is catching her eyes, doing so in such a way that it causes the flecks of green hiding within the hazel of her irises to gleam like little emeralds.I’m watching her elegant fingers as they trace the golden links of the ‘Together Forever’ bracelet that I’d gotten her on our anniversary earlier this year.“Uh, yeah, of course I can,” I reply awkwardly, knowing full well that I have no one to tell even if I wanted t...

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